Mega Man: The New Mavericks Outbreak
by MaverickJediSabyne
Summary: Two hundred fifty years after the events of Mega Man X8, a virus similar to the Maverick virus is targeting the human population. With no cure and limited information, the three famous Maverick Hunters are awakened to try and help find answers.
1. Prologue: Notification

"Dr. Kiloh? There's a message for you from Dr. Dien." The senior assistant's footsteps preceded her voice by mere seconds as she entered the lab her superior worked in. "He is requesting a response as soon as possible."

The figure seated at the desk in front of her didn't move, she noted with a mixture of disgust and admiration. A part of her wished she could exercise that same level of restraint, yet there was something unsettling about it at the same time. It was almost like watching a machine working.

After a few moments, the slightly grizzled head lifted, and a hand beckoned her closer. "Sorry, Molli." He apologized. "I was focused on this experiment. If I can get it right, the results will provide a much-needed boost in the virus protection for reploids."

Molli nodded, expressing her understanding with that singular gesture. "No need to apologize, Dr. Kiloh." She replied. "I know how important your research is. Had I not been told how important this was, I would not have interrupted your work."

He gave her a reassuring smile as he pushed his chair away from the desk. "Maybe I needed a break, anyway." He said as he stood up, walking slowly around the desk. "So, what does my colleague have to say?"

Molli handed him the disk containing the data that was sent by Dr. Dien. "I don't know, Doctor." she answered. "All he would tell me was that he needed to get in touch with you as soon as possible. Oh, he did mention something about a hypothesis being correct, but…" She paused as she saw the beginnings of a frown creasing his face. "Doctor.?" she ventured carefully.

Kiloh shook his head. "Don't worry yourself about it, Molli. Just go back to your work." Gently, he patted her shoulder. "Once I speak with Dr. Dien about this, I'll tell you more if I am able to."

She still seemed confused about everything that was going on, but that didn't keep her from nodding her understanding. She figured her employer needed time alone to think, so there were no second thoughts as she stepped out of the room. Once the door closed behind her, Kiloh removed the disk from its case and inserted it into the computer at his elbow. "Oh, Jona." He sighed softly as he waited for the data to load. "What have you found? What could you have possibly discovered that would concern me?"

A small beep from the computer told him that the data upload was complete. Slowly, he scrolled through the numerous pages of data, their numbers and letters glowing eerily against the black screen. To an untrained eye, the charts and reports would come across as gibberish, too difficult to decipher without hours of reading and tons of reference material. As his eyes scanned the data, his frown only deepened in a mixture of puzzlement and disbelief. Human Immunology had never been his specialty; human systems seemed too simplistic compared to the intricate beauty of reploids' systems. The issues that affected reploids called to him more than those affecting humans, especially since the number of scientists researching reploid Immunology were few. Dien, his colleague and friend, had always been the human specialist of the two of them, and had been from the day they met.

And that was precisely what bothered Kiloh about the data he was seeing. Why was it that the data sent to him by his friend, the Doctor of Human Immunology, looked so similar to that regularly seen by him, the Doctor of Reploid Immunology?

Whatever the reason, he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Turning to his right, he activated the communications monitor, pressing the sequence of buttons that he knew would directly connect him with Dien. It was chancy, especially knowing the tendency a certain _someone_ in his lab had for monitoring incoming and outgoing communication, but it was a chance he was willing to take. He considered upping the encryption level of his message, but decided against it. Even if she _did_ manage to eavesdrop, he doubted it would do much more than confuse her horribly; he figured it might even teach her a lesson about listening in on conversations one shouldn't be privy to.

He didn't have long to wait, within moments the connection was established, and all thoughts of his little spy were pushed aside as he saw the face of his old friend and colleague. "I'll dispense with the pleasantries, Jona." He began. "As I'm sure you know what this is all about."

Seeing Dien's nod, Kiloh continued. "Jona, what the hell is going on?" he asked sourly. "What is this data you sent me?"

"Nice to see you too, Nage." Dien replied coolly, visibly unruffled by the outburst. "Glad I've been so missed that I'm bombarded with abrasive questions as soon as I'm connected to you. As for the data, what does it look like to you?"

Kiloh raised an eyebrow. _If he's trying to make a fool out of me…_ He thought to himself. "What does it look like? It looks like data I see every day." He replied. "Data I've come across as I've researched various viral outbreaks among reploids over the years. Jona, is this a joke?"

Dien shook his head gravely, his prior joviality fading. "I wish it were, Nage." He answered. "But it isn't. That data I sent you is from research I've been conducting over the past six months. Research on human subjects who were brought to me or came to me willingly."

"Six months…that's when some mystery illness began showing up in the human population, isn't it?"

"Exactly. Being the leading human Immunology researcher in this area, I have been the one whom both victims and reports have been brought to. Nage, the data I sent to you tracked rates of infection and death in my studies. And it isn't getting any better. I just received word that three of my research subjects died yesterday from this 'illness', and there are ten new cases that were just reported to me this morning. Had I not thought it important, I wouldn't have sent you the data, nor would I have requested you contact me immediately after receiving it."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what a virus spreading among the human populace had to do with his research, but then it dawned on him what Dien was saying. The virus was behaving _exactly_ the same way that the various Maverick viruses behaved in reploids. Why had it taken Dien's explanation to make him see that?

"I see." _At least I do now._ "My question now is what we should do about it?" Kiloh finally responded, his uncertainty over how to handle the revelation showing in his voice.

"I think I have an answer for that too, Nage. I will be traveling to Cain Labs this afternoon, to show my research to the scientists there. If you could meet me there, maybe we could all work together for a day or two and come up with a plan to counteract the infection."

Kiloh smiled. "Excellent idea, old friend." He answered. "If anyone would have the technology and know-how to figure out what to do, it would be the researchers at Cain Labs. I'll make arrangements to be there by tonight."

"Glad to hear it, Nage. See you there." The monitor faded off silently, and Kiloh was left to the sterile solitude of his lab. A thousand thoughts swirled in his head as he sat back in his chair, and most of them were negative. He finally had to take them in hand mentally and quell them, lest the incessant buzz between his ears distract his focus.

He had turned his chair away from the monitor and was starting to rise from it when he heard a familiar female voice over the communicator's audio speaker.

"Dr. Kiloh? Dr. Kiloh, come in."

"How did I know…?" he asked himself quietly as he turned back to the monitor. Flipping a switch, it reactivated, revealing the face that the voice originated from. "Ah, Trysta. I hadn't expected to hear from you." He said. "What can I do for you?"

Trysta smirked noticeably. "Cut the evasion, Dr. Kiloh." She retorted. "I know what you're up to. I listened in on your exchange with Dr. Dien while I was monitoring things from here in the Security station, and figured I would offer my assistance to you once again."

He shook his head. "No, that will not be necessary this time, Trysta." He replied, holding up a hand to stifle the protests he knew would be forthcoming. "I'll only be away for a day or two at most, so you'll likely be more useful making sure things keep running smoothly in my absence."

"But Doctor…"

"No! Think about what you just overheard." Kiloh interrupted. Damn it, why was she always so _obstinate_? "This is a dangerous matter, Trysta. One that requires absolute secrecy until we know what is behind it. If we are not careful, it could prove disastrous for both reploids and humans. It might even be enough to give humans a 'cause' over which to declare war on reploids." He hoped that this approach would persuade her to drop the issue. Being privy to information was one thing, being privy to such sensitive and potentially damaging information was another matter completely. In his heart, he knew that that outcome would be _exactly_ what happened if word were to spread about a virus attacking humans that was similar to the one endured by reploids.

Intelligent blue eyes narrowed in contemplation as she thought about his words. "Very well, Dr. Kiloh." She finally said after a minute of silence. "I will remain here and make sure things don't fall apart while you're away. I don't like you traveling without me, but I will respect your orders."

He nodded, thankful that she was acting sensible at last. "I'm grateful for your cooperation, Trysta." He replied. "Just remember, right now the only ones who know of this are the two of us, Dr. Dien, and the researchers over at Cain. Until we know more, and decide on a cohesive plan of action, the information you overheard is not to be shared with others. Am I clear?"

"Perfectly, Doctor. Now, I'll leave you to your work. I'm sure you have much to do before you leave." The monitor clicked off again before he could reply. Shaking his head at the nature of the girl, Kiloh once again sat back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Mentally, he ran down a checklist of everything he would need for his trip, and once satisfied, he stood up and exited the lab.

There was a great deal yet to do before his departure, and precious little time in which to accomplish it all.


	2. Chapter 1: Authorization

"Very interesting, Jona." Kiloh pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he looked up from the data he was reading. "Far too interesting to be a mere coincidence."

Dien nodded. "Indeed." He answered. "This is too unusual to be anything but deliberate. The patterns of infection, and even the symptoms all resemble the Maverick virus far too closely to be a fluke."

Kiloh sat back in his chair, his head reeling a bit. "Do you think someone is trying to instigate war between humans and reploids?" he asked. It was a strange theory, he knew, but one that made sense, considering what the data was telling him.

Dien shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine at this point, though I will agree that that theory of yours sounds feasible." Removing his glasses, he stood. "Why don't we take a break, Nage? I swear, I've been staring at these numbers for so long that they're congealing and producing new numbers as I watch."

Kiloh nodded his agreement as he stood and joined his friend. "Excellent idea, old friend." He replied. "We should get a bite to eat and rest our eyes. It's been tough work, analyzing pages upon pages of data."

As they headed for the cafeteria at Cain Labs, Kiloh couldn't help but think about everything that had gone on in the past two days. Since his arrival, he had alternated between data analysis with Jona and discussion of their findings with Dr. Tayx, head researcher at Cain Labs. After listening to their last discussion regarding the possible meaning and motive behind the illness, Tayx had dismissed them with a promise to make some inquiries and check with them as soon as she was finished.

Sitting down at one of the tables in the large room, they were soon approached by the reploid server. Kiloh ordered his usual meal of tea and toast, while Dien ordered coffee and eggs. When they were alone again, they let a few moments elapse in silence before Dien cleared his throat.

"So, how is your ward, Nage?" he asked. "Mine always tells me to ask you that when I see you. So tell me how Trysta is, that I might tell her sister that she is well."

"She most definitely is well, if nothing else." Kiloh replied. "She's as she always is. I practically had to lock her in the Security room to keep her from accompanying me here."

"And with your luck, she would figure out the override codes and be out in five minutes if you had tried." Dien pointed out with a chuckle. "All the while berating you until your ears bleed for locking her out of her job."

"True." Both men looked up as their food arrived. After thanking their server politely, they each began to eat, occasionally exchanging tidbits of news about how things in their respective labs fared. Kiloh was interested in the grant Dien had received to study ways to shield the human population from diseases, while Dien was fascinated by Kiloh's research into beefing up existing security measures for reploids to prevent them from contracting viruses and going Maverick as a result.

"It won't mean the end of Maverick reploids." Kiloh finished. "But it will eliminate one way they can become Maverick."

The conversation soon shifted to their previous meeting with Dr. Tayx, and what might come next.

"Think about it, Nage. We might have just stumped a woman who is easily one of the brightest minds anywhere." Dien whispered to his friend. "Does that concern you at all?"

Kiloh nodded. "Admittedly, it does." He replied. "The fact that our data is so new to her that she has to make 'inquiries' about it is most distressing. It means there is more danger in what is going on than we originally thought." He and Dien shared an agreeing nod, then went back to their food.

As they finished eating and were preparing to return to the lab, they were approached by another reploid. This was one they knew very well; she was Jun, Dr. Tayx's own personal assistant. She smiled her usual bright smile as she stopped a few feet away from them.

"I have a message for you from Dr. Tayx." She said in her usual slow yet even tone. "She says to meet her in her office immediately so you can continue your previous discussion with her."

Dien smiled. "That will be fine. Thank you, Jun." She smiled again as the two scientists left the cafeteria, stopping by the lab to pick up the bundles of data they had been analyzing.

Dien looked at Kiloh. "Well, Nage? What do you think?" he asked.

Kiloh shrugged. "To be honest, I won't know what to think until we're sitting with Tayx talking about what's going on." He answered honestly. "So I think we should get going so we can accomplish that end."

"Come in, gentlemen. Come in and have a seat." Rising to her feet, Dr. Kera Tayx gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk as her visitors were ushered in. "I have news for you."

"You got answers on the inquiries you made, Kera?" Dien asked as he sat down.

"If I hadn't received any responses, I wouldn't have called you here, Jona." Tayx replied smoothly. "So you could say yes, I've gotten answers. Though I must say, I was not anticipating the wave of near-panic that your little bit of research has set off."

Seeing Dien's confused look, and noticing the mirroring one Kiloh wore, Tayx continued. "Every scientist I've spoken with who has seen the data and been told what it means has had the same reaction. I don't know why, nor do I pretend to understand, but the fact that your data has set off this sort of alarm tells me this is serious."

"Hell, just looking at the data tells us the same thing, Kera." Dien interjected. "So what do we do now?"

"As I was about to say, Jona, if it weren't for the serious nature of your findings, I doubt any of my inquiries would have been listened to." She answered. "I was able to use my connections to gain the authorization I needed in order to proceed."

Kiloh raised an eyebrow. "Authorization, Kera? For what?" he asked. "What could we possibly need that would require clearance before you could obtain it?"

Tayx smiled and looked at the timepiece that sat on her desk. "Meet me down at the H&A Lab in an hour." She replied. "I'll explain everything to you when you arrive. Until then, go back to your rooms and get some rest. There's little more you can learn from burning your eyes into nothingness by reading all this data."

"Get any rest, Nage?" Dien was leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the Hibernation and Awakening Lab, watching keenly as his colleague showed up.

Kiloh shook his head. "Not a bit." He answered. "I keep thinking about what Kera told us in that last meeting. It's so difficult to get my head around the fact that we've discovered something potentially dangerous is happening."

"Makes two of us, Nage. I admit, it shocked me when she told us that other top scientists were panicking when they saw our data. If what we've learned is enough to frighten the most brilliant minds in the world that badly, it _has_ to be something terrible."

Kiloh nodded, watching silently as Dien attempted to use the lab's security system. After three times were attempted and denied, he felt he needed to smooth his friend's ruffled feathers before the good scientists at Cain Labs found themselves having to replace a security system.

"Easy there, Jona. Remember, the H&A Labs have the highest clearance level of any place in this facility." He reminded Dien. "Of course you're going to be denied entry. After all, they don't let just anyone in here who wants to enter. It would be too dangerous."

"Nage is right, Jona." Tayx appeared behind them before Dien could reply. "We can't let just _anyone_ come in here, as you very well know." Quickly, she punched in a sequence of keys on the nearby console before pressing her hand to the screen above it. With a hum, the doors slid open, admitting the trio into the most secretive lab in the complex.

Both men fell into step behind her as she walked in. "So, how come you asked us to meet you here?" Dien asked. "What's here that you wanted us to know?"

She smiled to herself. "You'll see for yourselves here in a minute or two." She answered. Detaching herself from them, she approached the trio of scientists who were working in front of a large console. She spoke with them for a few moments before returning. "All right. Everything is going as was planned." She said.

Dien raised an eyebrow. "_Now_ will you tell us what is going on, Kera?" he asked. "Without all the enigmatic crap? It's starting to grate on my nerves."

Tayx laughed softly. "Certainly, Jona." She answered. "The 'inquiries' I was making were to see if I could get you some help, if you'll recall." Seeing him nod, she continued. "Nearly three centuries ago, three reploids existed. The task they chose to accept was to protect humans, no matter what the cost. When it seemed all would be safe without them, they went into hibernation, that they might be awakened if they were needed again."

Kiloh nodded soberly. "Yes, I do recall hearing about them." He said quietly. "Powerful reploids that could stand up to anything thrown at them. They were even said to be immune to the Maverick virus, though that could simply have been a myth."

Tayx shrugged. "Could have been. Anyway, I figured you would require more help than a scientist could bring to the table, and I immediately thought of these two." As she spoke, the three hibernation capsules immediately in front of them were opening, slowly revealing their occupants. As the group of scientists watched, the figures within the capsules stirred, slowly sitting up as they opened their eyes.

Gesturing that they should follow her, Tayx approached the trio briskly. "I apologize for having to awaken you." She said as she drew near them. "But it seems we are in need of your help once again, Hunters." Looking back, she nodded to Dien and Kiloh, indicating they should join her.

As he approached, Kiloh observed the three Maverick Hunters carefully. As with their present counterparts, at first glance they were indistinguishable from normal human beings, armor aside. Each was different from the others in many noticeable ways. The first wore blue armor and seemed to have short hair, as none could be seen peeking from his helmet. The second wore red armor adorned with green jewels, his long blond hair sweeping in a long arc from the nape of his neck. The third wore blue and gray armor striped with red, and his hair was more of an orange hue where it was visible.

Even their personalities seemed different from what he was observing. The one in red appeared to be the collected one. He stood leaning against the pod he had emerged from, green eyes scanning everything as though he expected an enemy to emerge any second and attack them. The other two appeared to be in differing stages of confusion over their current situation, their expressions revealing their puzzlement over what might be occurring.

Finally, the blond reploid spoke. "So, are you gonna tell us who you all are and why you felt it so important to wake us up?" he asked. As he spoke, Kiloh made mental notes, listening to the tones and nuances of his words. He knew this one was lethal, he had known it on sight. It was something in his posture, in his stance that led Kiloh to that conclusion. What he hadn't known until that moment was how lethal he _sounded_. This was an individual who could kill with one shot, if he so chose.

_I'll have to warn Trysta about this one._ He told himself mentally. _Otherwise she could wind up on the wrong end of a fight with this guy._

Tayx smiled apologetically. "Of course I am, Zero." She answered, not even fazed by his abrupt questions. "First, the introductions. I am Dr. Kera Tayx, head researcher here at Cain Labs. With me are my two independent associates. On my left is Dr. Jona Dien, Doctor of Human Immunology, and on my right is Dr. Nage Kiloh, Doctor of Reploid Immunology." Dien and Kiloh each nodded a greeting to the trio, letting Tayx handle the talking.

"As for why you have been awakened, that is a bit of a story." Tayx continued. "One that should be told in more private quarters. Come, we'll all return to my office. There, I'll tell you everything we know, and what you will need to know."

"What do you think of all this, Axl?" X flopped onto his stomach across one of the beds in the room they were given. Nearby, Axl sat cross-legged on another of the beds, and Zero lay on his back on the third, head pillowed by his arms. The past few hours had been taxing; first they had been brought out of hibernation, then they were required to sit and listen to that trio of scientists explain why they were awakened. Once the explanations were finished, they were allowed to retire to this room, in order to more fully recover before they were needed.

Axl shrugged. "To be honest X, I'm not really sure what to think." He said. "I really want to make some kind of crack about this, but they seem so serious about everything. It makes me wonder why we're here. I mean, it's just a virus afflicting humans, isn't it?"

X nodded in agreement. "Me too." He answered. "I know the one scientist –Kiloh, was it?- seemed especially worried about conflict breaking out between humans and reploids. After all the fighting we endured before we went into hibernation, I'm not sure I'm ready to go through it again."

"It isn't like we have a choice." Zero's voice broke in. "It's our job, remember? We can't pick and choose our duties just because we aren't sure we should get in the middle of things. I'm pretty sure if they felt they could handle things without us, we wouldn't have been awakened. The fact that we are here suggests to me that this could be serious."

Axl nodded. "You do have a point there, Zero." He answered. "Regardless of how we feel about this, we were awakened to help with it. We can't just turn our backs on them now, not when they seem so desperate for our help."

X nodded as well, though his actions were somewhat reluctant. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Zero." He said with a sigh. "I just wish I knew more about what's going on. Do you feel like there's things they aren't telling us?"

"No, that's just you being paranoid, X." Axl interjected, holding up his arm to block the pillow that suddenly came flying at him from X's bed. "Besides, if there _is_ anything they aren't telling us, it's probably because they don't know enough about it to be able to gauge its importance."

"Axl's right, X." Even resting with his eyes closed, Zero was actively listening. "We can't just assume they're intentionally keeping us in the dark about things. Not with how concerned Dr. Kiloh and Dr. Dien seem about this whole situation. I would think they've worked as hard as they can to make sure they know as much information as possible. We just have to trust them at this point."

"I really wish we hadn't had to awaken the Hunters." Kiloh said to Dien as the duo walked to the lab's transport center. Their allotted time spent at the labs was up, and they would be returning to their own respective labs, hoping to continue their research from there.

"I do too, Nage." Dien replied. "But we didn't have any other choice, and you know that. We don't know nearly as much about this virus as we should; and the less we know about it, the less likely we are to find a cure." They stopped in front of the loading ramp for Dien's transport. He would be returning to his lab alone, as he felt that his colleague's more vast knowledge of reploid technology would lend itself well to him hosting the three Hunters.

Kiloh sighed. "I know, Jona." He answered. "I just wish…I just wish there were another way, that's all. But you're right, this is likely the best way we'll find any answers, if not the only way."

"Believe me, I wish there were too." Dien answered as he held his hand out. "Anyway, safe journey back to the lab, old friend." He continued as Kiloh clasped his hand in a firm shake. "I'll continue my research on this illness, and contact you as I learn more."

"Thank you, Jona. I'll do whatever research I can on my end, and stay in touch as I learn more." The two colleagues exchanged a knowing nod before Dien made his way up the ramp and into the waiting transport. Kiloh waited until it had begun lifting off from the platform, then he walked over to his own transport, smiling a bit as he saw the three Maverick Hunters standing in front of the loading ramp.

"Ready to get back to the lab?" he asked as he approached them. He saw that only the orange-haired reploid –Axl, he remembered was his name- was smiling. X, the blue-armored reploid was watching him uncertainly, while Zero, the one in red, wore an enigmatic and unreadable expression.

"We're ready when you are, Doc." Axl answered with a grin, Zero punctuating his statement with a silent nod. "One question, though. Are we gonna get any real clothes?" Axl continued. "Because I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of living in this armor day in and day out."

Kiloh laughed softly. "Yes, Axl, it's all been arranged." He replied. "When we get to the lab, there will be someone there who has everything ready for you all."

"Well, let's get going, then." X said as he turned toward the loading ramp. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can change out of our armor."

Kiloh chuckled to himself as he boarded the transport first. _Such an interesting trio._ He mused silently. _Things could become quite different around the labs with this group._ Within moments, the three reploids had boarded and taken seats, and the transport lifted off.


	3. Chapter 2: Introductions

"I'll tell you two. Dr. Kiloh sure keeps a nice place." X said as the three Hunters walked down one of the utilitarian halls within Obsidian Labs. They had been asked to meet him in the lab's common room so that they might meet a few of the other residents, an invitation they accepted out of courtesy for their host.

Axl nodded. "I'll say he does." He replied. "It may be a smaller lab than most, but it seems he maintains it well. He must be very proud of it."

"I'm sure he is." Zero added. "When I spoke with him during the trip here, he seemed relieved to be returning. I would say he misses this place very much when he is away from it."

The three paused in a hallway junction to get their bearings before continuing on. It was difficult for them to believe they had already been out of hibernation for almost a full day. Upon arriving at the labs, they had been shown to rooms by one of the doctor's assistants. The rooms themselves were simple in design and decoration, but comfortable nonetheless. What Dr. Kiloh had said about clothing was true, as there were enough clothes in each room for them to each have a comfortable wardrobe asides from their armor.

In fact, the first thing they had done when left to their own devices was to change into normal clothes. Each of them had missed wearing regular human-style clothing during their long hibernation, and they couldn't pass up the chance to wear it again. It was strange, but they felt much more relaxed without the bulky armor covering them. Even Zero seemed a bit less edgy, seemed more open than he had only a few hours prior.

Soon, they approached an open doorway. "This is it." Axl said. Quickening his stride, he began to walk through it, followed closely by Zero and X. Inside, Dr. Kiloh sat with Molli and a few others, both human and reploid. One of the female reploids turned to face them, and her gaze locked with Axl's.

He felt his footsteps slow until he was stopped in the doorway, his eyes locked on her soft gray ones. After a few moments that passed like minutes, she smiled. It was a slow, sweet gesture that he returned, adding on a wink. He watched her cheeks flush with a blush, and would have continued had he not felt the sharp prod in his ribs.

"As fascinating as it is to watch you at work here, loverboy, I'd really like to get in the door and find a place to sit." Zero said in a low tone. Feeling his face redden with his embarrassment, Axl moved further into the room, letting the other two enter as well. X gave Axl a wink as he sat down near the doctor, while Zero observed them from a nearby corner. Shaking his head, Axl sat himself next to the pretty reploid who had attracted his attention. As he did, she gave him a sidelong glance, then averted her gaze back to her hands where they were folded in her lap, a blush tingeing her cheeks again.

Kiloh chuckled softly. "So, Axl. It seems you're already quite taken with our little Nami, are you?" he asked gently. As Axl felt his face light up with another blush, Kiloh laughed. "Don't worry. All you have to do is pass muster with her adoptive 'brother' Dax, and you should be fine."

"Dax?" Axl managed to squeak out. His face went from flushed to pale in record time as his eyes darted about the small room.

"That would be me right back here, kiddo." A voice behind him stated coolly. Axl turned in his seat, gaping as he saw the large, intimidating-looking reploid leaning against the wall behind him. He hadn't thought his face could get any paler until that moment, but as he looked over Nami's "brother", he knew he had been wrong. Everything about the guy looked frightening; from the armor plating that peeked from beneath his human clothing to the large gun that hung on his belt, nearly touching the ground.

Nami laughed softly as she saw Axl's face. "Don't worry, Axl." She said softly. "He looks intimidating, but he really isn't unless someone attempts to hurt anyone here. He's turned semi-pacifistic, mainly doing security and guard duties around the lab."

Axl swallowed hard. "Oh, is t…that right, Nami?" he asked uneasily. "Well, that's…that's just great. I mean, i…if he's really happy with it and all…"

Hoping to divert attention from a babbling, stammering Axl, Kiloh stood again. "So you've met Nami and Dax." He continued. "Over here, sitting next to X, is another of our lab assistant reploids. This is Rei."

Rei gave X a shy smile, extending her hand for him to shake. "I…I'm pleased to meet you, X." She said quietly, a tiny lisp further softening her voice. In spite of himself, X felt himself blush slightly as he took her delicate hand in his.

Kiloh scanned the room with his eyes, a slight frown marring the normally calm features. While he was glad the Hunters were settling in well, and glad they had met a few of his other reploids, he was beginning to wonder what was taking their final guest so long to arrive.

"Molli." He said simply, leaning over to whisper his question to her. "You did remember to ask _her_ to join us, didn't you?"

Molli nodded. "I did, yes." She replied. "Knowing her, she probably felt there was work she needed to do before she arrived. You know how seriously she takes her duties…"

"Duties I never even assigned her to in the first place." Kiloh answered grumpily. "She took them on herself, for reasons I couldn't fathom then and still can't." He let out a heavy sigh. "I just wish that for once, she would act more like a young woman her age, and less like a robot."

"I know Doctor." Molli gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I know. But don't worry. I'm sure she'll show up very soon."

As she walked through the hall leading to the common room, Trysta Seryn rolled her eyes, tugging the bottom edge of her shirt into place. She _hated_ these meet-and-greets her guardian always asked her to join, hated how they cut into time she could better spend training or monitoring things from the security station. The boots of her heels clicked on the tile floor as she approached the door, eyes narrowed in their usual icy, observing manner. Touching the keypad with her left hand, the door slid open silently; and as she walked in, she noted with a smirk that any conversations that had been taking place before her coming had ceased upon her arrival. Coldly, she surveyed the occupants of the room, her gaze studying each of the three newcomers before moving on.

With Nami falling silent under the newcomer's glare, Axl retreated to stand near Zero's seat, and they were soon joined by X. "Wow, who is she?" Axl asked.

X shrugged. "Don't know. But whoever she is, she makes quite the entrance, doesn't she?"

"If by 'entrance', you're referring to her manner of staring everyone down while casting her glare around the room, then yes, I agree." Zero interjected, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm thinking more along the lines of her silently bullying everyone around her into submission."

Even as they added their agreement, X and Axl couldn't help but join Zero as he watched the new girl walk about the room. He focused his attention on her, observing every detail of her, from her outfit of a blue cut-off tank top with a white collar paired with black pants and boots, to the icy demeanor she showed as she regarded everyone around her. He was surprised when he saw her icy glare thaw briefly as she regarded the other three reploids; he even could have sworn he saw her smile at them, though it was a small one that only touched her lips and not her eyes.

Finally, as though sensing she was being watched, she straightened her back, and spun slowly to face Zero. Chill sapphire eyes, framed by red strands of hair, locked with equally chill emerald ones, and they held each other's gazes for several moments. He could read a lot by that gaze, could see her disdain, her sense of superiority. He watched the slow smirk slide across her lips, matching the disdain present in her eyes.

As though sensing trouble was brewing, Kiloh stepped in to diffuse the situation. "Ah, Trysta. I'm glad to see you finally made it." He said cheerfully. "Molli and I were wondering if you would desire to grace us with your presence."

She still wore her smirk, but she broke off her gaze from Zero's. "I was debating that very thing myself, Dr. Kiloh." She answered. "After all, there are _so_ many other things I must do to keep things running around here."

"What could _she_ possibly have to do that's so important?" Axl whispered to X. "Get a manicure?"

"Yes, I realize you're busy, Trysta, but come now. A young lady like you should allow herself time to relax and enjoy things." Kiloh protested. "Besides, there are three reploids I must introduce you to."

She made a disgusted face. "_New_ reploids, Doctor?" she asked snidely. "Aren't the ones you have enough? Why do you need more?"

Kiloh cleared his throat. "Because of the scenario we discussed before my trip to Cain Labs, Trysta." He answered. "Besides, these are not ordinary reploids. These three are the legendary Maverick Hunters."

Gently, he led her to stand a bit closer to the trio, releasing her immediately as though his hand would freeze to her shoulder if it lingered for too long. "Trysta, meet the S Class Maverick Hunters X, Axl, and Zero. Hunters, this is Trysta Seryn, my self-appointed head of Security."

Trysta regarded them in her usual cold manner. Her gaze focused on each of them, lingered for a moment, the moved on to the next. She finished with Zero, her eyes narrowing noticeably as they remained fixed on him for some time.

Then she did something no one expected. She began to laugh. It was a nasty, brittle laugh, meant to convey disdain as opposed to humor. "These three are Hunters?" she asked nastily. "Dr. Kiloh, they don't look like they could hunt for water when it rains." She smirked as she renewed her gaze at Zero. "This one here especially looks incompetent." She continued. "After all, how can a male reploid that looks more girly than I do _possibly_ be of any use?"

Zero shot up from his seat, rage burning in his eyes. His hands reached for his absent Z-saber, itching to activate it and use it to silence her cruel talk. He had no weapons with him, having left them with his armor, and thus he was left powerless to do anything more than listen to her mockery.

She had moved on to Axl, however, and her mockingly snide language continued. "How could you trust someone with that kind of scar to be useful?" she asked coldly. "What happened, Axl? Dodge that last hit a bit too slowly?" Zero could see his friend's face blanch as she laughed icily at him, and he felt the renewed longing for his saber, that he might be able to shut her up.

Her eyes narrowed further as she looked upon X. "What's the matter, little one?" she mocked. "Afraid to talk to me? Or are you always mute and relying on your girly, incompetent friends to talk for you?"

"Trysta!" Belatedly, Kiloh stepped between them. "That is quite enough!"

She regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, you're quite mistaken, Dr. Kiloh." She purred coolly. 'I've only just begun with these three. But I suppose I am finished for now. You see, unlike them, I actually have things I must do, things that take precedence over standing around in the common room and chatting the day away."

She pulled away from Kiloh, leaving the three Hunters with one last icy glare as her farewell. Then she walked back to the door and activated the panel to open it. Once she had stepped through, it closed behind her, though the clicking of her heels could still be heard faintly through the door as she walked away.


	4. Chapter 3: Motivations & Memories

Having declared the gathering ended, Kiloh excused himself from Molli and the three reploids. He felt tired, wanted to rest some before resuming his research, and yet knew that sleep would be the last thing coming to him. Molli seemed concerned, but if she had any doubts, she refrained from expressing them as he took his leave.

It turned out he was right. When he stepped into his room, Kiloh knew he would not be sleeping. There were too many things on his mind, both current and past, that were preventing him from sleeping. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed and surveyed the room, as he did every night to see if that would bore him into falling asleep. His eyes fell on his desk, fixated upon the message sent to him by Dr. Dien. He sighed wearily, remembering it contained little news regarding the virus, except a vaguely worded promise to "monitor suspicious activity" that was taking place somewhere.

Beginning to move his eyes away from the desk, they came to rest on an old frame. Standing up, Kiloh crossed the room and lifted the frame from the shelf it resided on. Brushing away the thin covering of dust, he felt his eyes smart with tears as he looked at the digital image stored within.

He hadn't allowed himself to think too much about his wife since her death fifteen years earlier. They had married young –he had been twenty, she eighteen-, but they were a happy couple. She was also a reploid researcher, but was more interested in the design of new reploid creations; indeed, the designs of Rei and Nami were directly influenced by her work.

The attack that had taken her from him was a quick, brutal one. A small army of Maverick Reploids had commandeered the transport she was riding home from work, and were threatening to "eliminate" their human hostages. When every other means of disabling the transport had failed, their prisoners came up with their own plan. Led by his wife, they fought against their captors, forcing the transport to crash into a tall building. Though they were beaten, the group of Mavericks earned their revenge in the end when one of them put a shot straight through the heart of his lovely Luniya. If he took any small comfort from her death, it was that she was hailed a hero whose untimely death was quick and painless.

"Luniya…" he whispered. Tears streaked his cheeks and make tiny transparent dots on the frame. Carefully, he wiped them away with his sleeve, as though he might damage the digitized picture by being too rough with it. His heart still ached with the agony of that day, the day he was told his wife would not be returning to him. For the next several months, he felt as though he was in a daze, doing everything by a combination of automation and sheer force of will.

Her death was especially bitter for him because they had been talking about improving their marriage outside of work. A few years prior, Luniya had expressed an interest in starting a family and settling into a pattern of work and child rearing. He, not sure if he wanted to give up the freedom he had had up to that point, was quick to negate the idea. Now he would give anything to go back to that day and agree with her. He would give up whatever he felt he had to if it meant she would still be alive and by his side now.

But he knew that wishing for the past to be different was useless. He had refused to consider her wishes above his, she was dead, and he responded by walling himself off in his labs and throwing himself into his research. He didn't know why he worked so exhaustively on his research, but he suspected a part of him hoped to keep her memory alive by promoting peace between humans and reploids. It might be a fool's hope in the end, but a fool's hope was better than no hope in his mind.

Three years after her death, his routine of grieving and working was interrupted by an unexpected arrival. Even now, he still wasn't sure what to make of it. A child, brought by her mother to stay until the mother chose to return. Not having been around children much, he did not know how to care for the girl, and mostly left her to her own devices as he worked. Too late, he now knew that that was a serious mistake on his part. She grew up intelligent and curious, but with ice for a heart and acid for an attitude.

_Maybe that's why Trysta turned out the way she did._ He thought to himself miserably. _If I had only bothered to spend more time with her…_

Hoping to distract himself from the memories that tore at his heart, he turned his thoughts to Dr. Dien, and the message he had just received. Along with the news regarding his research, Dien had mentioned a troubling new development in the infection patterns.

Namely, he mentioned his own sister and nephew falling ill. Kiloh could read the pain in the written words, could feel his friend's anguish at having to report the news. It was never easy having to talk about the illness or death of a loved one, as he discovered first-hand so many years ago. But it must be agonizing for Dien, to watch them die of an illness that no one had any knowledge of.

Kiloh sighed again as he returned to his prior seat on the bed. So many memories, and so many current heartaches. How humans ever learned to cope with their negative emotions over the millennia he did not know. Yet he knew that wallowing in sorrow and self-pity would accomplish nothing. He had to get his mind back on his task and research, or else he would never be of any help to Dien.

After several minutes of sitting silently on the bed, he felt himself yawn. It was the first time in many years that he had felt tired this early in the evening. Removing his glasses, he set them on the nearby table before laying on his back on the bed.

"Nage, you really need some sleep." He told himself. "A clear head will…permit…clearer…"

As he drifted off to sleep, a rare sort of peace entered his mind for the first time in many years. He didn't feel anger, or sadness, or even happiness. He just _felt_, in a way that defied both logic and explanation.

Dien had always been a night owl. He worked long days and rarely slept at night, unless he was about to drop from sheer exhaustion. Now was no exception. He hadn't slept in four days, had drunk so many energy drinks that he could taste their sticky sweetness in his mouth, and was amazed he could even stand upright and read numbers correctly.

But he _had_ to keep himself going. Ever since Sasha and her son Tyren had been brought to him with symptoms of the illness, he had worked tirelessly to figure out more details about the illness and its origins. He still had learned precious little about it, and that fact alone nearly drove him out of his mind with frustration.

He refused to give up, however. He knew that giving up would only break his heart, and theirs when he told them there was nothing he could do. He would kill himself before he would let them give up hope. Unless his friend Kiloh, Dien had never seen the need to take a wife; as such his sister and her son were the only family he had in the world. He would do _anything_ in his power to protect them.

Analyzing the data patterns, he was struck by an odd anomaly. It appeared the heaviest concentration of victims was coming from the area around an old, decommissioned base on the edge of the ocean. He wasn't sure how the virus was being spread, but a few days' worth of analysis would likely give him some hints. He transmitted a message to Kiloh, keeping him updated on his progress and telling him he would be in contact when he learned more.

With that out of the way, he decided a rare bout of sleep would be best for him, considering the circumstances. He didn't even bother shrugging off his lab coat, merely shoved the covers to the foot of the bed and lay on it.

Within moments, he was sound asleep. A sleep he hoped would not be interrupted with frivolous dreams.


	5. Chapter 4: Sparring

Zero didn't know how long he had been sitting in his room; it could have been as short as a few minutes or as long as a few hours. Whichever it was, he didn't care; it had been more than enough time for him to clear his head. His ears still burned slightly from the cruel words spoken by the girl Trysta, and he felt a hint of anger that he had to sit there and take her abuse without retaliating.

One day, he would pay her back for the humiliation he had endured for those few moments. One day, _she_ would know what it was like to be denigrated without having the ability to fight back. A part of him eagerly looked forward to that day, and a slow smile touched his lips briefly as he thought about it.

Finally, he stood up and stretched. He had been sitting far too long in one position, and his limbs ached slightly as they adjusted to being moved again. He knew he needed something to keep his mind off his anger, so he decided to see what X and Axl were up to. He hadn't heard much from them since they all had returned from the gathering, and he was becoming a bit curious.

Exiting his room, he walked the few steps over to X's and knocked on the door. Within seconds, the door slid open and X stood there, looking incredibly relieved to see him. "Zero! I'm so glad you're here." He said, taking Zero's arm and tugging him into the room. "You've got to help me, Zero. Ever since we came back from the common room, Axl's been talking nonstop about that girl reploid Nami that he met. I can't get him to shut up!"

"I have not been talking about her nonstop, X!" Axl protested as Zero took a seat on the floor. "Sure, I've been mentioning her quite a bit, but that's far from nonstop."

X shot Zero a helpless, "See what I've had to put up with?" look, which Zero promptly shrugged off. He hated to get in the middle of this, but he knew if he didn't, he wouldn't have any peace for the rest of the day. "Axl, I know she must be a great girl, but can you please give X a break from the endless chatter?"

Zero could feel Axl give him an evil scowl, while X beamed him a grateful smile. He ignored Axl's glare, not wanting to add any more fuel to the fire than he already had. "Hey, do you two know of anything exciting we can do around here?" he finally asked, figuring a switch in topics was best. "I'm getting bored stiff with just sitting around in my room."

After a moment of quiet thought, X stood up rapidly. "Hey! I know!" He exclaimed. "I remember Molli telling me about the training rooms on the lower level of the lab when she showed me to my room. Why don't I call her and ask her about them?"

"Great idea, X!" Axl replied. Zero merely nodded his agreement, figuring the combined exuberance of his two friends was enough without his adding anything to it.

X made his way over to the communications console and tapped a button. After several seconds, Molli's image appeared on the monitor.

"Hello, X." Molli greeted him, her smile warm. "What can I do for you?"

"Molli, can you tell me more about the training rooms you mentioned when I first arrived here?" X asked. "The three of us would really like to use one of them."

"I'll do one better. I'll show you where you can find them." A map appeared on the screen, showing the shortest route to the rooms. "You can see you're very close already." She continued as X studied the map carefully. "Just take the second hall elevator down three floors, then make a right once you step off the elevator."

"Okay, I think I've got it. Thanks, Molli." X said, reaching for the button to end the communication.

"Wait. I should forewarn you three." Molli interjected, causing him to pause with his hand on the button. "The training rooms tend to be Trysta's domain. You'll often find her down there training a new guard or sparring with the other three reploids. I just wanted to advise you of that, so you can give her a wide berth if necessary."

"Thanks for that, Molli. If we need anything else, I'll call you again." Seeing her acknowledging nod, X ended the communication and turned to face his two friends. "So, shall we go?" he asked.

"If it means seeing Nami again, I'll go!" Axl stood up, feeling a blush tinge his face as he saw X roll his eyes. "I mean, I could use the bit of practice myself. After all, it _is_ rather boring sitting here and daydreaming."

"Well, let's get moving, then." Zero stood up and headed for the door. "The longer we stay up here and chitchat, the shorter the time we'll have for training."

Axl fell into step beside X. "So, what do you think our chances are of meeting up with Trysta again?" he asked.

"Knowing our luck? It's more likely than not that we will see her." X answered with a shrug. "That's just how things work with us, I guess."

The gun Dax held in his hands recoiled as it fired, sending a spray of stinging bolts toward the figure of his training partner. He held the gun as steady as possible while he fired, knowing one small slip could prove disastrous. Even though the weapon was set on "Stun", he still did not want to take the chance that it might be live without his knowing, and risk hurting someone inadvertently.

His opponent crouched and drew a pair of blades from her back. Linking them together at the hilts, she formed a double-bladed weapon that she spun in front of her. It deflected most of the shots that whizzed toward her, sending them harmlessly into the surrounding walls; the few that it didn't block were slowed enough not to pose a significant threat. The more he fired the gun, the more she deflected the shots, until he ran out of energy and was forced to holster it.

He barely had time to draw his sword when he heard the distinctive sound of someone running toward him. Holding the sword in his left hand, Dax swung it upward in a huge arc, hoping to parry whatever blow might be coming his way. He seemed to briefly strike something, felt the edge of his blade lightly scrape against something that wasn't there a few seconds previously. In the blink of an eye, it was gone, replaced by the powerful blow that struck him in his chest. He staggered back, falling against the shatterproof glass behind him with a grunt as he mentally thanked the designer of his armor for making it so sturdy.

He looked up as he saw the figure land a few feet away from him. "Nice one, Trys." He said, removing himself from his leaning posture. "Once again, you prove you're entirely too fast for me."

"Oh, don't be silly, Dax." She replied, brushing a fingertip along the shoulder of her training armor. "You had me across here, didn't you? I've never let you get a hit like that off me." Frowning, she plucked off the few strands of hair he had sliced when his sword had struck her. "Either I'm getting soft or you're getting much better. Or you're telling me I need a haircut, one of the three."

Dax shook his head. "It had to be a fluke." He protested. "There is no way I could have hit you that easily."

She rested her hands on her hips. "Then you must admit that that's one heck of a fluke." She countered.

She was about to continue when a hint of motion caught her attention. Looking around Dax, she saw the trio of Hunters watching them through the glass. "Look sharp, Dax." She remarked, jerking her chin in their general direction. "It appears we have an audience."

Zero groaned inwardly, wishing he could disappear as quickly as they had been spotted. The three of them had been looking for an empty room they could use when Axl had slowed down to watch what was going on in one of the occupied rooms. Zero and X had turned back to see what delayed him, and they wound up standing and observing the match that was going on, not realizing who was involved until it was over.

X and Axl felt their faces redden. "Well, looks like you were right, X." Axl remarked. "With our luck, we _did_ run into her again."

As X was about to reply, two familiar figures approached the door to their left that led into the room. The two Hunters looked up, only to meet eyes yet again with Rei and Nami before the two girls entered. They observed Trysta as she greeted the pair kindly, interacting with them for a few minutes before she seemed to notice them again.

She then surprised them by gesturing that they should come in as well. X exchanged a look with Axl, who then shared a look with Zero, before the three of them slowly made their way into the room. Axl entered first and moved to stand next to Nami. X moved to stand near Rei, while Zero made himself comfortable leaning against the wall behind him. All three of them watched Trysta with some degree of curiosity, as they had not expected her to make a gesture like this. Surely her way would have been to mock them for being foolish enough to stop and watch her, wouldn't it?

Her expression was slightly bemused, but her voice was as enigmatic as ever. "I'm sure you're wondering about this sudden 'generosity' of mine." She began. "I am never selfish when it comes to my training rooms. I may be selfish in other aspects of my life, but not the use of these rooms. As long as you follow the rules, you are more than welcome to use them as much as you like."

"And what rules are those, I wonder?" Axl muttered under his breath. "Letting you win in a sparring match or else we're banned for life from using the rooms?"

The glare Trysta gave Axl was so malicious it caused him to involuntarily take a step backward. "You want to try facing off against me, Axl?" she asked icily, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Because if there's one thing I have no tolerance for, it's slander of _any_ kind, regardless of who its intended target is."

The smart remark that he intended to throw back at her promptly died in his throat as he stood beneath her glare. The girl could go from enigmatic to cruel in milliseconds if she felt so justified, and the result would not be pretty unless he found some way to defuse it. "I…I didn't mean it that way…" he stammered, mentally cursing himself for letting her get to him so easily.

Her jaw tightened. "Oh, didn't you?" she asked mockingly. "It sure _sounded_ like you meant it that way. My, my, do you always lose your nerve so quickly when called out on something?"

"Back off, Trysta." Zero stepped away from the wall, his eyes as hard looking as her own were. "He said he didn't mean for it to sound that way, and I believe him. So just let it drop."

"It's so _admirable_ how you stick up for him, Zero." She sneered in reply. "Tell me, Axl, was it difficult to turn Zero into your own personal lapdog? If so, I'd like to have lessons on how to do it."

Zero gritted his teeth, seeing tinges of red in the corners of his vision. It seemed she _always_ found something to use as ammunition against them, even words of support for a friend. He clenched his fists at his sides, resisting the urge to silence her with a powerful backhanded strike across the face. That urge was unlike him, but her cruelty was rapidly fraying the control he had over his temper.

"If you think you're so great and wonderful." He ground out between his clenched teeth. "Then why not spar against us? That way, we can see how 'wonderful' you really are."

"Not a bad idea." She answered with a smirk. "Maybe if the three of you have your collective asses handed back to you in a fair bout of sparring, it will get you to leave me alone."

Zero's glare darkened as he tried to ignore her snide comment. "We will see." He growled. Turning his back on her, he looked at his two friends as they stared. "Well, shall we follow through on my offer?" he asked.

Seeing their nods, he turned back to Trysta. "All right. You'll have your match…" he said, beginning to draw his saber. He mentally thanked himself for having the foresight to pick it up before he exited his room, as he had missed it acutely during their last meeting.

She held up a hand. "Before you do anything, you need to know the rules." She answered coolly. "First, you are to respect your opponent, meaning hitting them when they're down and defenseless is out of the question. Secondly, gun weapons are not to be used unless they're set to stun. I do _not_ want anyone being seriously injured here."

She paused, raising an eyebrow as she caught sight of Zero drawing his saber from his belt. "Adding on to the second rule, Zero, you'll have to turn down the power on your weapon."

"What?"

"You heard me perfectly. The higher the power of that weapon, the greater the risk of you injuring someone with it. Now, either turn down the power on it, or select a different weapon." She rested her hands on her hips as she waited for him to make his decision.

He glared at her for several moments before touching a button on the hilt of his saber, modulating its power output. He hated to admit she was right, but he could see the logic behind her rules. He was sure that, without those rules in place, she would likely have some half-cocked individual come in under the pretense of "sparring", only to wind up seriously injuring or killing someone, if she hadn't seen one already.

She nodded her brief appreciation without an accompanying smile before turning her attention to X and Axl. After making sure their weapons were adjusted accordingly, she drew her own weapons. "Well, shall we get this going?" she asked.

Although the other two nodded, Zero could make out the slight paling of their faces as they saw the pair of short swords that she wielded. And he couldn't blame them. The blade of each one was as long as her forearm; and had she not appeared to know what she was doing with them, the three of them would likely have not escaped this bout without injury. But the grace and ease with which she handled them suggested she was very familiar with using them, almost like she had been born with them as extra appendages.

As she turned and walked to the far end of the room, Axl and X moved to take positions near each other. Each had weapons at the ready; Axl with his guns, X with a smaller version of the gun Dax often trained with. He would normally have used his Buster, but it was difficult to regulate the power output on it, so he chose not to chance it being too powerful.

Reaching her desired place, Trysta spun back to face them before fluidly dropping into a crouch. It was her favorite pose to take when sparring or fighting, as it provided her with the most mobility and the least vulnerability. She looked up at the trio where they stood, smiling to herself as she felt her heart start to race.

She hoped this was a challenge worth taking up.

"I'm ready when you three are." She called out. "Unless you're backing out on me already…"

She didn't even have time to finish her taunt, as Axl raised the barrels of his guns and opened fire. X followed suit quickly thereafter, adding his own fire to the mix. Zero waited to see what the result might turn out to be. His eyes widened slightly as he watched what she was doing. He _never_ thought something like that could be possible! He had seen it when he watched Trysta face off against Dax, but he thought it was merely his eyes playing tricks on him. Now he knew it wasn't an illusion, wasn't him losing his mind. She was _really doing it_!

Still tucked into her crouch position, Trysta had linked the hilts of her twin blades so she effectively had a double-bladed sword. Keeping her gaze locked on the two figures pointing their guns at her, she spun the long blade in her hand. The result was her effectively creating a barrier that was deflecting the majority of the shots. Most of them struck the walls and floor surrounding her, making dull thudding noises as they landed. The few that managed to slip past her defense made small gouges along the surface of her armor and cut tiny bloodless nicks in her hands and cheeks.

After several moments, both X and Axls' weapons signaled they were out of energy. As they tried to figure out what to do next, Zero noticed they were dropping their guard ever so slightly. Apparently, it was all the opening she needed; for the next thing he saw was her separating her twin swords and replacing them on her back. She didn't waste a second, as soon as they were secure on her back, she charged toward her opponents as fast as she could in the confines of the room. They barely had time to react before she leapt at them, disarming each of them with a few strikes. They defended themselves as best as they could, but still wound up sprawled on their backs on the floor, bewildered at what had just transpired.

Trysta folded her arms, glaring at them in her typical disdainful manner. "Pathetic." She remarked in a low voice. "And here I was hoping to get a _real_ challenge in this bout of sparring. Guess I'm disappointed once again."

"You're wrong." Zero spoke up behind her, causing her to turn and face him. "I could prove quite a challenge to you, if you're willing. Or are you writing me off without engaging me?"

She raised a scornful eyebrow. "While I don't see how a reploid that looks more like a girl than I do could be of any threat to me, I'll humor you."

His glare further darkened as he watched her unsheathe the twin blades from her back again. "It's dangerous to underestimate an opponent." He retorted quietly. "Even someone like you should know that."

The smirk she gave him in return was brittle. "Who says I'm underestimating you?" she asked tauntingly, stepping back to create further distance between the two of them. "Seems I'm telling things the way they appear."

"Only the way they appear to _you_." He growled in response. He watched her through narrowed eyes, making sure she didn't try anything to give her an edge over him.

"Naturally. My way is the _only_ way to see things, after all. It makes it easier to separate the worthy from the trash."

He didn't even wait for her to stop before he charged at her. He had had _enough_ of her nasty looks and nastier comments. As he swung his saber at her, he was only mildly surprised she was able to turn and block it as quickly as she did. What surprised him more was the sweep with her foot that threatened to take his feet from underneath him. He felt it make contact, felt it knock his feet out from beneath him. Quickly, he rolled on his back before springing back to his feet.

She was quick, he had to give her that. As soon as his feet touched the ground, she was at him, her blades whizzing past his ears as she made her strikes. He parried her blows, and then struck back, blocking her blades with his saber before driving his knee into her stomach.

She reeled back several steps, catching her breath slowly. "Not bad." She remarked simply, resting one hand over the impact site as she recovered. "And of _course_ you had to hit me right in my armor's weakest spot."

Zero smirked. "Yes, of course I did." He replied, the tone of his voice clipped. "If that's one way to stop you, then I'll do it."

She straightened up, her arm falling back to its usual place at her side. "But who says it's stopping me?" she asked. She knelt, picking her sword up from where she had dropped it when she was kicked. "If you're trying to win, I'm sorry to disappoint you by not making it as easy as you might have hoped." She continued. "I never did do things the easy way."

He felt a tinge of aggravation creep in to mingle with his already frayed temper. Damn, how did she always manage to find another way to annoy him? "So, you prefer things the hard way, do you?" he asked coldly. "That can be arranged easily."

Charging at her, he struck with his saber, only to watch her parry the blow with her swords and dodge the brunt of his assault. Much to his consternation, it seemed she was able to anticipate his moves; as he pressed his attack, she diverted and dodged it. In response, he quickened the speed of his own moves, not letting her either land a blow with her weapons or immobilize him with a kick.

Their duel continued for several more minutes, with neither seeming to gain ground that the other didn't immediately take back. A break in the action came, however, when Zero managed to knock one of Trysta's blades from her hand. As it spun across the floor, she tried to run after it, only to have him block her path.

She glared darkly at him before swinging with her remaining weapon. He was able to parry her strike easily, but mentally cursed himself as he realized it was little more than a distraction to permit her to reclaim her lost weapon. He pursued her in vain, realizing she was too far ahead for him to prevent her from reaching it.

With her blade back in her grasp, Trysta spun on him, charging him rapidly with blades spinning. Zero stopped himself, trying to dodge her, but he wasn't fast enough. Her shoulder impacted his, knocking him onto his back. He dodged the three rapid strikes from her as he moved to stand up. She was still as fast as ever, but he was feeling his patience wear thin. He had to find a way to end this bout.

Quickly, he rolled to get his feet beneath him. Once he regained his footing, he sprang at her, timing it so she was lunging at him at the same time. The maneuver worked; she tried to dodge him without losing her advantage, which only caused her to fall rather unceremoniously onto her left shoulder. Pressing his newfound advantage, he advanced on her before she could recover.

Even with the wind knocked from her, she was still fast, he observed disgustedly. She quickly rolled to her back, and then shifted so she was sitting up. As she did, she raised her swords in preparation to block his. He merely stood over her, pointing the tip of his saber at her chest, while her blades pointed at two vital areas on his own body.

_Stalemate_. Had this been a real fight, there would be no way for either of them to move without serious injury or death. He was more than satisfied with a stalemate. She had proved a reasonably challenging opponent, in spite of her arrogance and insults.

At his feet, she relaxed noticeably, almost seeming to smile. "Well done, Zero." She said, dropping her arms to her sides. "It's been a long time since I was challenged to this degree. I am impressed."

He took a step back, deactivating his saber in order to allow her room to stand. "I don't need praise." He replied coolly. _Especially not from someone like you._

Once she was standing, she sheathed her swords in their holders on her back before turning to Zero and extending her right hand. "It takes a damn good fighter to impress me, and I daresay you have done so easily." She said. "Well met, Zero."

He regarded the outstretched hand mutely, not moving to take it. Raising his eyes to meet hers, he saw his feelings of anger and outrage mirrored in her own expression. This was obviously not a girl who was used to being refuted.

She dropped her arm back to her side, where its hand clenched into a tight fist. "So that's the way it's going to be, is it?" she asked, her jaw tightened in anger. "So be it, Zero."

Still refusing to speak, he merely brushed past her. He walked over to where X and Axl still stood, nodding to each one before the three of them left the room. As they passed Rei and Nami, Axl seemed to slow slightly as his gaze locked again with Nami's, but that moment was interrupted when Zero forcibly took his arm and tugged him away.

Seeing Trysta standing by herself in the center of the room, Dax walked over and slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I wouldn't worry myself with that one if I were you, Trys." He said. "I'd be surprised if _anyone_ were able to crack that guy."


	6. Chapter 5: Enigmas

"Thanks for walking with us, guys." Nami smiled sweetly as she wove her arm through Axl's, much to his surprise. Noticing the slight reddish hue his cheeks started to show, she let out a soft giggle and tugged gently on his arm, pulling him a short distance away from where Rei and X stood and watched them.

X grinned as he watched. It had been two days since the four of them had last met in the training rooms, and he and Axl both were surprised when Nami asked them to join Rei and herself for a walk about the lab grounds. After extending an invitation to Zero –which was promptly declined- X and Axl met their "dates" in the lab's entry hall.

They had been walking now for only an hour or two at most, but X had to admit, he was enjoying the time. He was sure Axl was as well, though the blush and semi-enigmatic smile his friend wore made it difficult to know for sure.

"Yes, thank you." Rei added quietly. "Walking with Dax everywhere tends to be so monotonous. Not that he's _boring_, by any stretch. He's just so difficult for us to relate to."

"Hey, think nothing of it, ladies." Axl replied, trying to ignore the redness that had seeped into his face. "We'll do anything if it gets us away from Zero for a while."

"Zero?" Rei looked at X, an eyebrow raised in question. "He's your friend, right? So why do you want to get away from him?"

He shook his head. "It isn't that we want to get away from him." He answered reassuringly. "It isn't that at all. Zero…well, he can be difficult to get along with sometimes. He tends to brood a bit over things that bother him, and being in his company at those times can drag someone down a bit."

"Kind of like how hanging around with Trysta tends to drag the two of us down sometimes, huh X?" Nami chimed in.

"Nami!" Rei scolded gently. Though she secretly agreed with her on this, she wasn't about to admit it. "You know it's impolite to talk about someone when they aren't here to defend themselves." She continued.

"But it's true! From the sounds of it, if we had Trysta and Zero compete in a contest to see who was more of a 'downer', I think they would be tied." Nami replied.

Rolling her eyes, Rei turned back to X. "Never mind her." She apologized. "She's been like that ever since we were created."

X smiled. "So you've known each other since you were created?" he asked, hoping to divert attention away from Nami.

Rei nodded. "Yes. We were created at the same lab at nearly the same time." She answered. "When we first met shortly after our respective creations, we felt so bonded to one another that we couldn't bear to be apart; which is why it was a good thing we were both created for Dr. Kiloh."

Axl looked at Nami, then over at Rei, his expression curious as he listened to her story. "So, you're sisters?" he asked carefully as he shifted his attention back to Nami. "I didn't think you looked alike enough."

Nami gently swatted his shoulder. "We're only 'sisters' in name, Axl." She explained, amusement showing in her gray eyes. "We call ourselves 'sisters' because we're so bonded to one another. It isn't that we were created from the same schematics, or even the same personality data, but the fact that we've grown so close to one another."

"So I see." Axl replied. "So I see."

The four of them stood in silence for a few moments before X felt compelled to speak again. There had been a question that was bothering him, and he figured one of the two girls might know.

"I've been wondering…what is it that Trysta does around here, exactly?" he asked. "I know Dr. Kiloh introduced her as his self-appointed Security head, but does she do anything besides that?"

Rei shrugged. "She does whatever she chooses to." She answered simply. "We certainly don't have any control over that."

Nami shook her head. "She chooses to do whatever job she feels she should be doing." She added. "And more often than not, she does a damned good job at what she does. As Security head, she's done so much work revamping and improving the systems in the past year that I would be amazed if anyone attempted to gain unauthorized access."

"So she's only been here for a year…"

"Oh no, X." Nami interrupted. "She's been here _much_ longer than that. Neither of us knows exactly how long, as she was already here when we first arrived. But I have heard that she's lived here since she was a child."

"If that is true, then it presents a bit of a puzzle." Rei interjected. "As Dr. Kiloh does not have any biological children. His wife died many years ago during a Maverick attack, and to our knowledge, he has not remarried or even considered remarriage since."

Nami nodded. "The only way to know for certain about Trysta's background would be to access whatever data files about her exist here at Obsidian. There are a few files, however, she has had access to them blocked to everyone outside of herself."

"So, she would rather that no one learn about her background, huh?" Axl asked. "Well, X, if it were anyone else in the world, that would be something to be concerned with. Since it's Trysta, then it seems rather fitting for her, doesn't it?"

"Can't really argue there, Axl." X agreed. "But can we change topics now? I for one would prefer not talking about our strange and enigmatic friends any more."

Trysta sat back in her chair, silently priding herself for a rare moment of restraint. While monitoring the security feeds, she had come across Nami and Rei as they walked with Axl and X. A fleeting moment of protectiveness had her left hand reaching for the audio monitoring controls, that she could hear the exchanges occurring between the two pairs. Her fingertips were just grazing the buttons when she tensed her arm, deliberately pulling it away from the panel and dropping it into her lap like an unruly tree branch. As she praised herself for that bit of restraint, she leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling in the hopes of clearing her mind.

"Nice to see you actually hold back on something, Trys." Dax's voice from the doorway of the security room caused her to spin her chair to face him. He leaned against the frame casually, hair slightly mussed and eyes keen as he watched her. "I was worried I'd have to revert to being a combat reploid before you would restrain yourself in any manner."

"Just as it's always nice when you come by to see me, Dax." Trysta retorted sarcastically, swiveling her chair to face him. Propping her right elbow on the chair arm, she rested her chin on her hand, her lower lip pouting in that manner he had always found obnoxiously cute. "With such sweet sentiments as those, you should stop by here more often."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Damn, but she could be annoying at times! "Maybe I will, if only to keep a better eye on you." He took a few steps into the security room, leaning against a nearby console casually. "After all, if you won't take care of yourself, someone has to."

A slim eyebrow cocked over a crystalline blue glare. "I'm not a child, Dax." She spat back. "I haven't been a child for as long as I've been here. I don't need someone to babysit me, nor anyone to take care of me. That's what I have _myself_ for, got it?"

Dax held up a hand. "Yes, I heard it all a long time ago, Trys." He answered in a bored tone. "And I got it around the same time. It still doesn't change what I think, however. You're afraid to let yourself seem vulnerable, so you act tough and nasty to protect yourself…"

"Spare me the psychoanalysis, Dax." She hissed acidly. "I've heard it all before. I didn't buy that tripe back when I was first hearing it, and I'm sure as hell not buying it now. The only person I need in this world to take care of me is _me_, and don't ever forget that."

Dax knew arguing with her was pointless; yet that didn't stop him from opening his mouth to respond to her statements. He knew she was wrong, and he suspected she knew the same in spite of her denials. She was just far too stubborn to admit she needed anyone else in her life. After what she had been through, he couldn't completely blame her, yet he couldn't help but resent her for continuing to dwell on things she had no control over.

Before any sound could escape from his mouth, however, the pulsing beep of the security room's call signal interrupted them. He closed his mouth grimly; someone was contacting the lab, the argument would have to wait. It seemed to happen this way every time he tried to have a serious talk with her. Something would come up -a call maybe, or someone with a task for him- and it ended up in the exact same way every time. He was left frustrated, wondering if he would ever have the chance to try and get through to her.

Trysta seemed to think the same thing. She waved her hand dismissively as she turned back to face the main security console. "You should get going, Dax." She remarked absently, seeming to distance herself mentally from him. "I have things to finish here, and I'm sure Dr. Kiloh has things he needs your assistance with."

He sighed, finally surrendering. She may not have planned them intentionally, but the timing of these interruptions always made him feel like she was trying to get rid of him when he was trying to have a serious talk with her. "You would be right, Trysta." He replied. "I do have some tasks to accomplish for Dr. Kiloh. I guess we'll continue this discussion next time, whenever that happens to be." Absently, he sent a half-hearted wave in her general direction, figuring she would never see it, before turning and exiting the room.

Dax's exit left Trysta alone with the humming of machinery echoing around her. She felt a twinge in her chest as she recalled his words, her eyes misting with smarting tears. Ever since she was a child, she had gone through life on her own terms and for her own reasons. She never allowed her head to be turned, never allowed her mind to be twisted by words, and thus was able to grow up without many of the problems she knew befell her peers. Yet the price she paid was the aching loneliness she felt from time to time, loneliness that pierced her heart even as she denied its significance.

Briskly, she shook her head. Now wasn't the time for this. Her hands flew over the control panel before her, activating the viewscreen on the opposite wall. "You are now connected." She spoke into the microphone of the earpiece she wore. "This is Trysta Seryn with Obsidian Labs. What is the purpose for this contact?"

"Ah, Trysta." The face of Dr. Dien appeared on the screen, his warm voice coaxing a small smile from her. "I'm glad to see you are well, and working as hard as ever."

"Dr. Dien." Trysta replied simply. "I hope things are well at Azure. How is Felicia?"

"You ask me about her every time I contact you." Dien's tone was suffused with a chuckle. "She is as well as the last time you inquired about her a few days ago."

"Well…" Trysta was at a loss for words, and felt an embarrassed blush tinge her face. She hadn't realized her sibling's guardian would take notice of her constant inquiries with such bemusement. "I…I guess just being apart from her makes me a bit concerned for her." She stammered, starting to slouch a bit lower in her seat in her embarrassment. "After all, I see her so rarely…"

"No need to explain, Trysta." Dien interrupted her. "It's completely understandable for you to be concerned. But there isn't time for that at this time. I need you to do something very important for me."

Trysta perked up instantly. "What is it, Dr. Dien?" she asked. "I'll make sure to have it done at once."

"I know you will. Now listen carefully. I'm currently sending you a highly encrypted transmission. It's data I've gleaned from surveillance reports that's intended for Dr. Kiloh to examine. I need you to decrypt it, then open a line of communication between Nage and myself."

Trysta nodded, flipping a few switches on the panel. "Decrypting as we speak, Dr. Dien." She responded blankly, her attention focused on her task. "Communication will be opened as soon as I can confirm Dr. Kiloh's location."

As she worked to decrypt the data she had received, her left hand stealthily slid beneath the edge of the panel. Her fingertips sought, then found, a small blue button, which they quickly pressed before returning to the panel and resuming their work.

"All right, contact is established. Stand by, Dr. Dien, while I confirm." With an agreeing nod from him, she turned to the small monitor at her elbow. "Dr. Kiloh, am I coming in clear?" she asked.

Dr. Kiloh's image flickered onto the monitor. "You are, Trysta." He replied. "I hope your interruption is for an important reason, as I am quite busy at the moment."

She nodded. "It is. Dr. Dien wishes to speak with you."

"Jona? Did he say what he needed?"

"No, but he did send along some data for you to analyze. I'm transmitting it to you as we speak."

Kiloh turned from the screen, his brow wrinkling as he checked the computer sitting next to him. Finally, after several moments, he turned back. "Well done, Trysta. Patch him through." He said. "And no eavesdropping this time."

Trysta prayed he couldn't see her crossed fingers where they dangled off the arm of the chair. "I wouldn't dream of it, Doctor." she replied coolly.


	7. Chapter 6: Debriefing

Dr. Kiloh pushed his chair away from his desk as he regarded the face staring from the monitor at his elbow. "I must admit, Jona, you've outdone yourself this time," he said. "This information you've uncovered is both helpful and disturbing." He had spent the past several hours at his desk, poring over the data transmitted by Dr. Dien as the two scientists discussed its ramifications.

Dien nodded. "Indeed. Imagine how horrific this virus will wind up being if it's permitted to keep spreading the way it has been," he replied. "It could wipe out the human population as we know it."

"A most terrifying thought, indeed, Jona. Still, I wonder if the Hunters will be willing to help us locate the source of this 'Variant' virus." Kiloh continued. "After all, it is a virus that affects humans, not Reploids. They might not see a reason to become involved."

Dien cocked an eyebrow, giving Kiloh the distinct impression he had been expecting a concern such as that. "While it is true that the virus does not _directly_ affect Reploids, there are other concerns tied to it that do," he explained. "My studies of the aftereffects of the virus indicate that one serious potential complication is an irreversible, irrational hatred of all Reploids; which is coupled with a desire to destroy them. If an individual so afflicted were to reach a high level of power…"

"The consequences could be disastrous." Kiloh finished glumly.

"Precisely."

Kiloh sat back in his chair, his head reeling. The data Dien had sent him seemed to point toward one source of the virus, an abandoned military installation along the continent's eastern coast. It would be a risky venture; based on communication chatter that Dien had been monitoring, there appeared to be a large contingent of soldiers stationed there. The irony that a base that had lain unused for nearly three decades suddenly had soldiers without anyone's knowledge was not lost on Kiloh.

After several silent moments, Kiloh stood, removing his glasses and wiping them on his coat. He had made up his mind; he would debrief the Hunters and ask for their aid. "You're right, Jona," he said. "I'll have Dax take them to the debriefing room. There, I'll fill them in on the details of what's happening."

"Fine, fine. Will _she_ be joining them?"

Kiloh shook his head. "Not if I can help it, she won't," he replied. "She's enough of a loose cannon the way it is. The last thing I need to do is further encourage that trait. Besides, she likely has enough to do here at the lab that she couldn't even break away." He replaced his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "With any luck, she won't even find out what this is all about."

A moment passed before Dien nodded his affirmation. "Very well. I'll be in touch." The monitor clicked off, its sound barely audible over the hum of lab machinery.

Standing alone in the room, Kiloh's gaze turned thoughtful. All his talk about Trysta…it was all wishful thinking, he knew. If he knew her as well as he thought, he knew she would knock down the door to the debriefing room as soon as she found out she was left out of the loop, spewing fire and demanding to be included. Her not finding out might be a foolish hope, but at least it was still something worth hoping for.

If I can keep her from ending up the way her mother did… 

"So, do either of you know why we're being summoned by the Doctor?" X's tone was calm, yet a hint of anxiety could be heard beneath it. The three Hunters walked behind Dax as he escorted them to another of the many rooms within the lab's compound. No details had been given by the other reploid when he appeared at the doors to their quarters; he gave only the instruction to follow him to the room where Dr. Kiloh would be meeting with them.

Axl shrugged. "Not a clue, X," he answered. "But I'm sure Dax knows." Quickening his step, he walked beside the other, larger reploid. "So tell me, Dax. Do you know why the good Doctor is asking us to meet with him?" he asked.

Dax nodded slightly. "I do." he replied.

"Then why?"

"That I can't say."

"Why not?" Now it was Axl's turn to feel slightly confused. Dax knew what was going on, but wasn't revealing anything. Why?

"Sorry, Doctor's orders," Dax's tone was gentle and without mockery. "Apparently, he has a lot of information to share with you, and prefers telling you everything himself."

Zero nodded. "About what I figured," he remarked. "My only question is, why all the secrecy?"

Arriving at their destination, Dax stopped before an impressive pair of doors, his fingers tapping the keys on the nearby keypad. "Doctor Kiloh has his reasons." He said absently as he finished entering the code. "You'll see once he begins to explain everything to you."

Dax paused as the three Hunters entered the room ahead of him, his keen hearing picking up a faint mechanical sound that hadn't been there before. He frowned, his eyes scanning the hallway in search of its source. Failing to find it there, he stepped into the room, his frown deepening as he noticed the movements of the security cam high in one corner of the large room.

Trysta… 

"Come now, Dax." Kiloh's cheerful voice broke his train of thought, erasing the frown from his lips. "Don't just stand there and scowl. Come in and sit down. After all, there's much to do and little time to prepare."

"Trysta, I really don't think this is a good idea." Rei's quiet tone held an edge of worry as she looked over her friend's shoulder. The small screen in front of them was showing the unfolding events in the upstairs conference room. "I don't think Dr. Kiloh will be too pleased that we're eavesdropping on their meeting."

Trysta's eyes never left the screen in front of her, their narrowed blue depths observing everything that moved on it. "Why not?" she asked flatly. "After all, we should be involved with what's going on, shouldn't we?"

"Well, we would be involved if we were _invited_ to be a part of it." Nami's voice held an edge to it that normally wasn't present. "You _do_ remember what it means to be invited as opposed to not, don't you, Trys? I'll give you a hint; one thing it doesn't involve is eavesdropping through the security system."

Stifling a growl, Trysta spun her chair to face the other two Reploids. "Yes, I realize what it means to be invited, Nami." she echoed snidely, pushing red bangs out of her eyes. "But I still say, for all his brilliance, Dr. Kiloh is making a serious mistake by excluding us."

"But he's just taking our safety into consideration, Trysta." Rei attempted to placate her, only to be answered by a snort from her human friend. "I mean it. He just wants to make sure we're safe, while allowing capable fighters to handle the situation."

Trysta's clenched fist hit the arm of her chair with a muffled bang. "And you're saying I'm not a capable fighter?" she asked icily, her voice rising slightly in volume and irritation. "You're saying I couldn't hold my own as well as any of them?"

"Of course she isn't!" Nami stepped between the two of them, her eyes narrowed to mirror Trysta's. Behind her, she could hear Rei fighting back tears. That made her even angrier, that Trysta would attack someone who was only concerned for her welfare. "You know damn well that Rei would never insinuate anything like that about you, Trys! She's just trying to explain why Dr. Kiloh would want to keep you out of harm's way. He…"

"He's supposed to be like a father to me." Trysta turned back to the monitor for a minute, then turned back to face Nami. "That's what you were going to say, isn't it?" Seeing Nami's curt nod, Trysta nodded herself. "He's had a hell of a way to show it over all these years. Hell, I'm amazed he even remembered I existed as I grew up; he was always far more interested in his research than in trying to be any sort of father to me."

"Trysta, you aren't being fair to him and you know it." Nami retorted. "You know perfectly well that you're the only experience he's ever had with children. He might not be a perfect guardian, but you can't totally fault him for trying."

"I know." Trysta started to turn back to the monitor again, but thought better of it and remained facing the other two. "But don't you see? I have to be a part of this!" She stood up, starting to pace the small open space in the security room. "Last time I checked, I'm human. I might have some technological means to improve my speed and abilities, but I'm still one hundred percent human. I'm as human as those poor people who are forced to fight this virus."

Rei and Nami watched mutely as she sat on the edge of the seat. "If…if I don't help with this mission, how would I ever live with myself?" she asked. "A human who allowed others to suffer in order to maintain her own sense of security. If they fail…" she paused, searching for the correct words. "If they fail, I need to be there, to continue the fight they started."

"Those are all great and wonderful words, Trysta," Nami interjected calmly. "but I get the impression you want to be involved because you don't want to lose face with the Hunters by being left out. Especially with Zero."

"You want honesty? Fine, I'll admit it. You're right on that point as well," Trysta stood again, facing the monitor. "I'd slit my throat and allow myself to bleed to death before I let them take a mission that should be mine; doubly so that girly-looking Zero. I refuse to be subject to anyone's ridicule over my lacking a role in this mission."

The two Reploids shared a look behind their friend's back. After a few moments of silence, Nami rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "It's impossible to talk you out of this, isn't it, Trys?" she asked. "No matter what we say, you'll always have some sort of justification for doing things your way."

"That's the idea, yes."

Nami sighed, followed shortly afterwards by a similar sound from Rei. "Fine, fine. I don't like it, but count us in," she replied. "Question is, how do we get ourselves involved?"

Trysta's smile could be heard in her voice. "With a bit of patience, a dose of observation, and a spot or two of hacking and encryption," she answered cryptically. "From there, we watch the fun."

"If there's one word that least describes this whole ordeal, 'fun' would be it," Nami retorted. "But I did agree to help."

Seeing that all four of his intended audience were present, Kiloh rose from his seat at the head of the conference table. "I want to thank you for coming so quickly," he said, wiping his glasses on the edge of his lab coat before placing them in its pocket. "There are many things I need to show you, and very limited time in which to cover them all."

As he prepared to start the debriefing, he noted the reactions of the three Hunters. X and Axl paid rapt attention to everything that was said, their expressions revealing their curiosity of why they had been summoned. Zero sat stoically with his arms folded, though Kiloh knew almost instinctively that the blond Reploid would not allow any details to bypass him.

Clearing his throat, Kiloh pressed a button on the desk near his seat. "Since time is of the essence, let us begin," he stated. When the lights were completely dimmed, a projector housed in the center of the large conference table activated. As it initialized, it produced a blurry image, which rapidly refocused into the schematic of a large building.

"Hunters, this is the Zankux military installation," he began. "It was built shortly before the end of the Maverick Wars and was designed as a facility for military research. Reploid, robotic, and cybernetic designs were all closely studied and tested in this facility, with the successful ones being produced for use by Earth's military. In addition, the base was one of several outposts designed to guard against any future Maverick attacks."

Even in the eerily dim light cast by the projector, Kiloh could still observe the three Hunters. They were all watching the projected image with rapt attention, though he noted with a touch of bemusement that Zero's arms remained firmly anchored across his chest. "Several years after the Wars ended, the base's operations shifted from research to personnel training, and it remained in operation as a training facility until it was formally decommissioned and closed down approximately thirty years ago."

"So, what does an old, abandoned base have to do with why you woke us up, Doc?" Axl chimed in, his tone curious. "What are you asking us to do?"

"Excellent questions, Axl, both of which I will answer now." Pressing another button on the console near his seat, Kiloh brought up a new image, this one of a map. "This data was provided to me by my colleague, Dr. Dien. It is a map that details outbreaks of the 'Human/Maverick Variant Virus'.

"What is this virus, Dr. Kiloh?" X asked.

"The short answer, X, is we just don't know. The virus is striking the human population and beginning to spread rapidly. We call it the 'Human/Maverick Variant' because its symptoms bear a striking resemblance to those of the Maverick virus that strikes Reploids; the difference being a human with this virus is far more dangerous than a Maverick Reploid."

Pressing the same button, several dot clusters of varying sizes appeared on the map. "These dots represent confirmed cases of the Variant virus in humans." Kiloh continued. "As you all can see, the epicenter of the current outbreak is Zankux, the city for which the base was named. This hardly seems a coincidence. Adding to the suspicious evidence, Dr. Dien has informed me that there has been encrypted radio transmissions coming from and going to the base. While we have been unable to decrypt those transmissions, it is odd that they began at around the same time the outbreak was first noted."

"Could it simply be a terrorist or mercenary group using the base as its center of operations?" Dax interjected.

"Unlikely, Dax. No known terrorist or mercenary groups have encryption technology this sophisticated," Kiloh replied. "In fact, the encryption we're seeing is even higher than that used by Cain Labs itself. No, this is something different, and more sinister, I fear."

"So what's our mission?" Zero asked.

"Your mission will be to infiltrate the base and gather whatever data and intelligence you can find. Unfortunately, we still have limited information on the virus, and none on who is behind it. Get whatever information you can and bring it back here so it can be analyzed."

"And what if there are enemies?" X asked in turn.

"You must try to be as secretive as possible with this mission. Whoever is behind this virus will likely be looking out for spies and other outside sabotage. Try to avoid directly engaging any enemies you encounter, unless you are left with no other options. Also, be warned that there were a number of still-experimental designs left behind when the base was sealed off. If any hostile individuals have commandeered the base, they have also likely found ways to reactivate those designs and use them for their own purposes. You must exercise extreme caution while on this mission…"

"Wait, if the base was sealed, how could anyone get in?" Axl interrupted.

"That is what we're hoping you'll find out. Now, are there further questions?" Kiloh's focus was diverted as the lights began to come up of their own accord. He frowned, for no one in the room had touched any of the control buttons to raise the lights. He was opening his mouth to ask Dax to check the room's lighting wiring when the image displayed by the projector abruptly disappeared, the projector powering down with a loud hum.

"What the hell…?" Dax stood quickly, one of his guns appearing in his hand as he scanned the room. The Hunters had stood as well, all looking around the room in confusion over what was occurring. "Doctor, what is going on?"

"I have no idea…" Kiloh began, but was cut off by the voice emanating from the speakers.

"_I have a question, Dr. Kiloh."_ The all-too-familiar female voice intoned over the speakers. Kiloh stifled a groan, he knew something like this would happen. "_When were you planning to inform __**me**__ of this mission?_"


	8. Chapter 7: Blackmail

Kiloh rolled his eyes toward the ceiling

Kiloh rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. His earlier hope had indeed been a foolish one; for she had not only found out what was going on, she had taken steps to interfere with the debriefing. Such interference when time was already of the essence angered him; if her reasons for interrupting were selfish, there would be hell to pay. He would personally see to it.

For now, all he could do was indulge her. He moved his left hand until it found the switch on the armrest of his chair to activate the large viewscreen on the opposite wall. Once he flipped it, the screen wasted no time in activating, revealing his obstinate ward sitting in her usual place in the Security room. Behind her, he could only just make out two figures in the background, figures he was certain were an unwilling Nami and Rei.

"What is the meaning of this, Trysta?" he asked, his tone clipped. "Why did you feel the need to interrupt something so important?"

She shrugged almost nonchalantly. "Call it boredom," she answered simply, the fingers of her right hand toying idly with the collar of her coat. "I needed some way to occupy myself."

"This isn't funny, Trysta." Dax rose slowly to his feet, his hands in fists on the tabletop. "This isn't a game, or a joke…"

"Nor am I treating it as one," she replied coolly, her gaze focusing on the tall reploid. "I'm simply exercising my right to interrupt if I feel it's necessary."

From the seat on his left, Dax heard Zero let out a snort. "Oh, really?" Dax attempted to keep his tone neutral, in spite of his anger. "And what _possible_ reason could you have for interrupting? What right could you possibly be exercising to break into something so important?"

"Simple, Dax. I intend on being part of this mission." She lifted an eyebrow over a cold blue eye. "And furthermore, I insist that Rei and Nami be permitted to accompany me as I join you."

"_What_?" Dax pushed away from the table angrily. "Do you even know what you're asking, Trys?"

"Of course I do. Do you think I would be so stupid as to ask if I didn't know?" she replied icily.

"With you, it's difficult to tell sometimes." He glared at her image as it appeared on the screen, with her returning his glare almost exactly. Dammit, why did she always choose the worst times to be obstinate?

X cast a look over at Dr. Kiloh, who sat with an unreadable look on his face. "Doctor…" he ventured. "Can she really do this?"

Kiloh sighed. "If she so wishes to, she can do just about anything as long as it involves the lab's systems somehow," he answered. "I've tried everything I can think of, but she has this entire sector of the lab on level five lockdown."

"Level _five_?" Dax's tone belied his disbelief. "Trysta, you know damn well that a level five lockdown is only to be used if the base is under direct threat. It's not to be used for this trivial crap!"

"_It's not trivial to me_!" Her voice, amplified through the room's speakers, caused Dax to take a step back in shock. "This is as important to me as it is to all of you," she continued, more quietly. "After all, last time I checked, I'm as human as those poor people who have been infected."

Dax narrowed his eyes doubtfully. "I know you want to help, Trys. But none of you are strong enough…"

"Not strong enough to help, are we?" Trysta's tone held a sneer on its edge. "Is that what you were about to say? Well, let me tell you something, Dax. The three of us can be every bit as strong as you and those pathetic Hunters Dr. Kiloh had to bring back. If he had trusted me with this mission, I could have done it days ago! I'm every bit as good at fighting as you are. Hell, I even have nearly identical armor and equipment to yours, Dax! So I'm sure you damn well know I can fight just as well as you can." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, sparks of blue fire spitting from them. "And I'll be damned if I let this pithy bunch upstage me. Not when I've been the best damn thing to happen to this lab…"

"Oh, don't start that 'I'm superior' thing with me again, Trys." Dax's voice held a similar sneer. "It isn't going to work. Besides, since you were so kind as to allow me to assist with lab security in the past, I know your access codes. All I have to do is type them into the console here in the room…"

"You so much as _breathe_ on that console, and I'll proceed to delete every bit of your precious data." Trysta's voice held an acidic edge. "I have a direct link to the data you're accessing. All it would take is my pressing a single key on my end and it's all gone for good." She paused, that smug smirk returning to her face. "In addition, I have locked down all transport traffic, whether by teleporter or otherwise, and I have sealed all Armories in that section of the lab. There is no way you're leaving me out of this…"

"Enough, Trysta!" Kiloh snapped, causing her to fall uncharacteristically silent. "If you wish to help them so much, then I'll allow you three to join them." He saw she was about to speak, and held up a hand to prevent her from interrupting. "But you must promise me that you won't cause this sort of trouble while you're on this mission. It's far too vital to risk failure due to a petty fight."

"Of course, Dr. Kiloh. You have my word." Before anyone could respond, the screen went black. A few moments later, the familiar hum of machinery told them that she had lifted the data lockdown, permitting them to view it once more.

"Now, then." Kiloh cleared his throat. "Where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?"

As angry as she was, Trysta was amazed her voice had been as calm as it had been.

It was always a remarkable ability of hers, to be able to keep her voice almost icily calm even when she was angry enough to put a fist through the closest wall. It had helped her through many tense situations, and it would certainly come in handy now.

Her hands still gripped the arms of the chair tightly until her knuckles threatened to turn white. She couldn't believe she had had to take the measures she took! It didn't surprise her that she had to go as far as she did, but it still made her angry.

"Trysta?" Rei ventured carefully, knowing that saying the wrong thing could set her friend off again.

Nami wasn't nearly as careful. "Okay, Trys. You got your way," she said curtly. "We're going with them. So now what are we going to do?"

Trysta raised an eyebrow. "What are we going to do?" she echoed, relaxing her tense grip on the chair arms. "We're going to prepare to leave, that's what we're going to do." Standing up, she approached the security room's far wall, where a security panel sat in the midst of a trio of armor cylinders, their contents shielded heavily. Her fingers worked quickly to punch in the lengthy security code, a tight smile on her lips as the shields deactivated one by one. She had known for a long time that a day like this would come, and now her training, her preparation, and her patience had paid off. It was more than a mere dream to be a hero that drove her; it was also the desire to prove to herself how capable she truly was.

And yet there was still something more…

Nami noticed her hesitation, noted the blank stare her friend bored into the wall in front of her. "Trys?" she asked carefully, moving close enough to lay a hand on the other's shoulder. It wasn't like her to stare mindlessly at the wall ahead of her; something had to be bothering her.

Feeling the touch on her shoulder brought Trysta out of her trance. "I'm all right Nami," she answered. "I just have a bad feeling about this mission, one that I'm sure would be twice as bad if we were to stay behind."

"A bad feeling?" Rei asked curiously. Trysta might be overly paranoid and self-centered at times, but her feelings were rarely completely wrong. "What sort of bad feeling?"

"Nothing I can really place, to be honest. I just feel that something bad is going to happen to those Hunters if we aren't there to help."

"Wow, you actually care what happens to them, Trys?" Nami interjected. "That's rather surprising, really. I figured you couldn't care less about them, seeing as how they're infringing on what you think should be _your_ mission."

Trysta resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Why shouldn't I be concerned? After all, if they fail, there's likely to be many more problems, for humans and Reploids alike." She answered as she began to pull on her armor.

Nami hesitated briefly. "Well, when you put it that way," she said as she began to don her own armor. "I do see your point there, and I admit I'm a bit concerned about this mission they're being sent on as well…"

"That's because you're so sweet on one of them," Trysta teased. She laughed as she saw her friend's blush. "I'm right, aren't I? After all, from what I've seen, you're rather hung up on the one Hunter with the scar…Axl, right?"

"Trysta…" Rei cautioned her gently, even as she noted Nami's continued blush.

"Oh, please, Rei. It isn't as though you're any better," Trysta picked up her visor, securing it over her eyes. "I've seen how you interact with X, so I know you're rather fond of him as well."

"That may all be well and true, Trys," Nami interjected as she finished adjusting her armor. "But I personally happen to think you'd make a decent match with Zero. Wouldn't you agree, Rei?"

Rei nodded. "As much as I hate to admit it, I could see it as well." She admitted.

"_Him_?" Trysta rolled her eyes behind her visor. "I'd just as soon smack him upside the head with the butt of one of my pistols than I would to pursue anything with him." She picked up her pistols, securing them in the holsters strapped to her thighs. "Oh, I'll admit he has some charms, even if he _does_ look more like a girl than I do. But I could never see myself in any sort of relationship with him, short of an adversarial or competitive one."

Before either of the two reploids could respond, the comm panel at the security station beeped. "Trys? Are you three ready to go?" Dax's voice asked from the panel's speaker.

Trysta rolled her eyes to the ceiling before walking over to the panel. When her back was turned to them, Nami and Rei shared a knowing look. Quickly, Nami crossed the few feet that separated them, moving to stand by Rei's side. "I'm not much of a matchmaker," she whispered when she drew close enough, "But I could see us having some fun getting her and Zero together. Wouldn't you agree?"

Rei hesitated for a moment. "If she found out what we were up to, she would be so angry with us," she replied. "But I think it would be good to try. Why don't we see what Axl and X think?"

Nami smiled. "Good idea…" she began, quieting as soon as Trysta rejoined them.

Trysta's expression was its usual placid coldness, blue eyes narrowed determinedly. "Dax says they're ready whenever we are," she said. "Are you two ready to get going?"

"We will be once we get our weapons," Rei answered. The two quickly picked up their weapons –a pair of stun pistols for Rei, and an automatic rifle for Nami- before rejoining their friend.

"All right. Let's get going," Nami said. "The longer we stand around here, the longer this mission's going to take. And I, for one, would prefer getting it done sooner rather than later."

"Are you two ready?" Zero asked as he strapped his Z-Saber to his armor. He picked up his helmet from its resting place on his bed, putting it on as he faced Axl and X.

Axl nodded, his hands resting on his pistols where they were secured in their holsters. "We're ready when you are, Zero," he answered. "Let's roll."

X seemed thoughtful as he followed the other two from the room, a detail Axl was quick to pick up on. "What is it, X?" he asked. "You seem rather quiet."

X shrugged, idly adjusting his helmet as he walked. "I…I don't know," he said. "I can't help but keep thinking about what was said at that debriefing, about our mission."

"Well, it _is_ a lot to process, I admit," Axl replied. "Not only did we learn more about that virus Dr. Kiloh told us is affecting humans, we learned it may stem in part from a military research base that was abandoned decades ago. I admit, the idea of confronting whatever might still be kept in there makes me a bit edgy."

"That's why we need to be careful," Zero interjected. "If what the Doctor said is true, there's still a lot of experimental technology stored at this base, and no one really knows its full capabilities. We'll just have to exercise restraint until we know exactly what we'll be up against."

"But what about the girls?" X protested, pausing in his tracks long enough for Zero and Axl to get a couple steps ahead of him. "We have to help them, too."

Axl shrugged. "What about 'em?" he asked. "They seem pretty capable to me. They could probably handle whatever trouble they got into. At least, Nami could. Rei I'm not so sure about…"

"I'm sure she can!" X quickened his pace to catch up to the others. "Sure, she's shy and everything, but I think she can hold her own just as well as Nami! She…she just doesn't know it."

"You have a lot of faith in her, X." Zero wore a small smile as he regarded his friend. "It seems you're quite fond of her. Same with you, Axl, when it comes to Nami."

His smile increased slightly as he noted the reddening of his friends' faces. Not that it mattered to him; hell, if being around those two girls made them happy, he was happy for them. Yet there was still the matter of their human associate…

"What about Trysta?" Axl asked, eerily echoing Zero's thoughts. "After all, she isn't a Reploid, like us. Do you think she'll be all right?"

"Asides from the fact she's now a member of our team, I really couldn't care less about her," Zero answered. "As long as she doesn't do anything to compromise our mission, I'll deal with having her along. The moment she tries anything stupid, all bets are off."

Axl nodded. "Fair enough. Still, I can't believe she interrupted the way she did. And the fit she threw in order to be included on this mission…"

"I think I can understand why she did," X interrupted, drawing confused looks from the other two Hunters. "I mean, since she's human, and this is a threat humans are facing, I understand her wanting to help out. After all, it could easily affect her one day, or the Doctor, or anyone she knows and loves."

"Too convenient a reason, if you ask me," Zero shook his head as he folded his arms across his chest. "Personally, I think she's just a spoiled little girl who can't stand anyone appearing 'better' than she does."

"Well, whatever her reasons may be, it doesn't change the fact that she's part of the team for this mission," X replied. "I'm willing to work with her, if only for that fact."

"I will too," Axl chimed in. "It could be fun."

Zero briefly rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "I told you my feelings on her already. As long as she doesn't try anything stupid, I'll tolerate her joining us."

"I can't believe you let her bully her way into this, Doctor!" Dax was pacing the floor of the transport control room, hands clenched at his sides in frustration. "I thought we weren't going to cave into her whims anymore!"

Dr. Kiloh, sitting in the main control seat, shrugged. "I wasn't," he said simply. "But you must admit, she made some good points…"

"What, about her needing to be included simply because she's human?" Dax interrupted, punctuating his question with a disgusted snort. "Or about her being far superior to the Hunters?"

"Some of the former, none of the latter, and a great deal of something you haven't even touched on," Kiloh replied, leaning back in his seat. "It was foolish of me to attempt to exclude her in the first place. Difficult and temperamental as she can be, she's as much a part of this lab as you and I are, Dax. Taking that choice away from her was the worst thing we could have done, you know that as well as I do."

"But what if she does something to jeopardize the mission?" Dax flopped into an adjacent chair, hands slapping the armrests loudly. "You know her personality, Doctor, what if she tries to do things her way and puts all of us at risk?"

"My word, Dax. Had I known you felt so negatively toward her, I would have included her and excluded _you_." Kiloh's voice held a tinge of coldness to it. "Trysta may be headstrong and stubborn, but she's not stupid. The girl has a decent head on her shoulders under that icy mask she wears; even you must admit that. She knows as well as anyone how important this mission is. As such, I have complete confidence in her joining this team."

"She'd be a hell of a lot safer if she and the girls just stayed here," Dax protested. "I just want to protect her, as I'm sure you do…"

"As much as I wish she would remain, there's no guarantee it would necessarily be safer here," Kiloh responded evenly. "This is a dangerous mission, there's no arguing that. But there's no way of knowing if those behind this will attempt to intensify their attacks, maybe even attack labs like this one in order to weaken any opposition to their plans."

Seeing Dax's understanding nod, Kiloh continued. "Besides, she's practically a grown woman, Dax. She won't learn anything by sitting here waiting for things to happen; she needs to get out and experience events outside the lab. Who knows, she may even learn some humility in the process."

Kiloh stifled a laugh, leaning back in his chair as he cast his gaze toward the ceiling. "Look at me. A damned fine guardian I make for that girl," he said, his tone ironic. "I couldn't be bothered to attempt to raise her, and now I'm letting her race off on a mission that could prove dangerous. Some father figure I turned out to be."

"Don't degrade yourself, Doctor. You've probably been the best thing to happen to Trysta since she was dumped here all those years ago. You gave her a home, food, everything she could possibly want…"

"Except a loving family and a feeling of security," Kiloh interrupted. "If Luniya could see what a pitiful excuse for a father I've been to Trysta, she would be so disappointed in me."

Dax shook his head. "I don't think so, Doctor," he said. "I think she would be proud of you even making the attempt in the first place. She knew you had never been exposed much to children, so I think she would understand any mistakes you've made. Just as I'm sure Trys will understand one day."

"I can only hope so…" Kiloh trailed off as he heard footsteps approaching the room. He and Dax stood as the three Hunters entered. "Welcome Hunters," he greeted them, while Dax nodded his greeting. "This is the control room for the transport teleporter; the teleporter's in the next room. The coordinates for the Zankux base are currently being inputted into the system. As soon as the girls get here, our Operator will be able to send all of you to the base to start this mission."

As the trio nodded, voices could be heard approaching the room. Kiloh smiled a tight-lipped smile as Trysta walked through the doorway, followed closely by Rei and Nami. "Ah, good to see you made it," he said.

"Glad to see we haven't missed the party, Doctor," Trysta's smile only seemed to touch her lips. "I admit, I was concerned you would send them off without waiting for us to arrive."

Kiloh ignored Dax's muttered response. "Now, you know me better than that, Trysta," he replied. "I gave my word that you three would be included, and I keep my word as much as I can." Before she could retort, he held up his hand. "We have little time to spend chatting. All of you need to make your way to the teleporter. Once you're all situated, I will inform Sye and we'll begin the sequence."

Moving from behind their friend, Rei and Nami approached X and Axl. "I…I'm so glad to see you again, X," Rei said, her shy voice barely above a whisper.

X smiled gently in return, even as he felt a hint of sweat on his brow as he looked over her armor. _And I thought she was a lovely thing in normal clothes_, he thought to himself.

"So am I, even though I wish we didn't have to be dragged along on this mission in order to see you again," Nami added, regarding Axl with a sweet smile.

Axl laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Believe me, so do I," he replied, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "But I guess things don't always go the way we want 'em to, huh?"

Trysta regarded the scene before her with bemusement. As happy as she was for her friends, she still felt a bit protective toward them. She hoped the two Hunters they fancied would keep them safe, even as she told herself they would.

As she walked toward the teleporter, she was surprised to find herself falling into step with Zero. The two matched each other stride for stride, neither one looking at nor acknowledging the other for some time.

After several silent minutes, Zero figured it was as good a time as any to speak. "So, what exactly do you hope to accomplish by tagging along with us on this mission?" he asked, watching her from the corner of his eye.

She narrowed her eyes behind her visor, watching him in like fashion. "Exactly the same thing that you three hope to accomplish," she replied. "Though it seems you believe otherwise. Not that that's my problem, by any means."

He gritted his teeth briefly. "Let me make one thing clear, _Trysta_," he said, his tone low and cold. "I'm only tolerating you joining this mission if you work with us to accomplish our goals. If you do anything to compromise this mission or put any of us in danger, then all bets are off."

"Such faith you have in me, Zero," Trysta's sarcasm was icy and brittle. "You barely know me, and already you're slinging insults and inferences about my loyalties on this mission."

"Fair's fair, Trysta. After all, you did the same to us when we first met…" He would have continued, except the rest of their group had arrived at the teleporter. They situated themselves so they all could fit on it, and Zero noted how Dax deliberately separated him from Trysta by standing between them. It was a reprieve that Zero was grateful for.

"Now initializing teleportation sequence." A female voice echoed through the room before the humming of the teleporter's machinery enveloped them as it slowly came online. The group stood silently, waiting for the teleporter to fully activate.

From her place in the control room, Sye monitored every aspect of the teleport's operation. She had calibrated the teleporter to transport them to Zarkux, and was monitoring activity from the destination teleport to make certain it was still active. With each button she pushed, she brought them that much closer to the end of their journey.

A journey none of them would forget any time soon.

She pushed a final sequence of buttons in rapid succession. In mere seconds, the group was enveloped in a near-blinding burst of light, which filled the entire room and blanked out the monitors. When the light faded, the platform was empty.

Suddenly, the monitors in the control room began blinking wildly. "What? What's happening, Sye?" Kiloh asked his Operator, who rapidly pressed several buttons at her console.

"I can't be sure, Doctor. But it appears the teleporter's been hacked."

"What! Hacked? By whom? And how?"

"No clue, Doctor," she replied. "All I know is that someone –or something- has interfered with the teleportation sequence. Damn, all the data on their travel is scrambled!"

Kiloh sat back in his chair, his face pale. "Do…do you know if they even arrived?" he asked, his tone strained.

Sye shrugged. "No clue, Doctor," she answered. "For all I know, they could be on the moon right now. I'm literally sitting here blind."

"So unless they find a way to contact us, we'll never know if they arrived in one piece?"

"Looks that way, Doctor."


	9. Chapter 8: Splintered

The first sensation Nami could recall was the feeling of the hard floor beneath her knees

The first sensation Nami could recall was the feeling of the hard floor beneath her knees. As her vision focused, she could see she was in a small room, dimly lit by lights along the edges of the floor and ceiling.

And she was alone. There was no sign of Trysta, or Axl, or any of their team nearby.

"Axl?" she called out, slowly rising to her feet. "Trysta? Dax? Where are you guys?" She spotted a panel next to the door, and crossed the small room to touch it. The door slid open quickly, causing her to jump slightly.

Cautiously, she entered the hall, her rifle loosely clenched in her left hand. "Axl?" she called again, her eyes scanning her surroundings as she walked. "Trysta? Anyone?"

As she ventured along the hall, she knew her attempts to call to her friends wouldn't work. She hadn't done much teleporter travel, but she knew that when one arrived at their destination, there was a teleporter similar to the one they had departed from. Not to mention anyone who traveled with them would also appear in that same room. But she had appeared in an empty room, without any of her friends about.

"This is bad…" she whispered to the empty hall around her. She _had_ to find them! Leaning against the nearest wall, she activated the communicator on her wrist, attempting to reach any team member she could find.

"Anyone? Please, come in. It's Nami. Trysta? Axl? Dax? Can anyone hear me?" she spoke into the unit, but it only transmitted back the soft hiss of static. She was about to try again when her ears picked up the faint sound of footsteps approaching her location.

Quickly, she ducked behind the corner she had just rounded, her hand tightening its grip on her weapon as she waited. After several long moments, a guard appeared, dressed in armor of an unfamiliar color and style to her. He stopped a few feet from her location, his weapon sweeping the hall in a slow arc as he looked about. Nami further tensed, prepared to fight if her location was discovered.

Finally, appearing to see nothing out of the ordinary, the guard retraced his steps back down the hall. With each retreating footstep, Nami felt herself relax slightly, her hand relaxing its tight hold on the rifle.

When the steps disappeared entirely, she emerged from her hiding place, making her way down the hall. Periodically, she leaned against the wall next to her, attempting to contact one of her teammates even as she listened for signs of another approaching guard.

Finally, she reached a junction point between four different halls. Leaning her rifle against her thigh, she activated her communicator once again. "Axl? Trysta? Anyone? It's Nami. Can anyone hear me?"

"…Nami?…" She stifled a surprised cry as she heard Axl's voice through the static of her unit. "…re you?"

"Oh my…Axl! I'm so glad to hear from you!" she cried in response. Briefly, she stiffened, looking around her to make sure she hadn't given herself away. "Where are you?" she whispered into her unit.

"Do…know.. so…kind of hangar…" his voice was becoming even more distorted by the static. "…tracking…your comm…find me…"

"All right," she answered before quickly terminating the connection. She knew she couldn't stick around and risk being caught. Not when she had likely located Axl.

Touching a small green button on the side of her unit, she waited until she heard the faintly pulsating beeps that emanated from it. Using the green button, she adjusted the tracking settings, until she found the frequency that matched that of Axl's communicator. Smiling slightly, she carefully made her way through the winding halls, following the faint beeps emanated by her unit.

"Hmph. Brilliant work." The female voice was tinged with acidic sarcasm, the sentence punctuated by the sound of armor striking armor. "I thought our orders were to prevent the Hunters from infiltrating the base; you know, send them to another location entirely. I don't recall our orders being to scatter them about inside this place. Honestly, had I known you were going to botch things this badly, I would have done the teleporter hacking myself!"

Bathed in the light from the large computer monitor, the figure seated in the chair before the teleportation panel swiveled the chair, his eyes making contact with those of his verbal assailant. "Cool your jets, sis," he retorted coldly. "I didn't exactly have the kind of time it required to establish a full teleport reroute. I started work as soon as I received the signal from our plant there at the lab; but their teleport system is more complicated to hack than most I've worked with. Be happy that I got any sort of reroute in at all!"

His sister rolled her eyes as he turned back to the control panel. "Whatever you say, dear brother," she replied icily. "It still doesn't change the fact that they're inside the base, against the wishes of our Master."

He shrugged, the gesture barely noticeable beneath his heavy armor. "So we switch to Plan B," he answered flatly, his hands resting on the arms of the chair. "Problem solved. Simple as that."

"Yes, it will be simple. Provided you don't get involved with it." She settled into the chair next to his, crossing her right leg over her left. "Believe me, _I'll_ make sure not to mess things up this time."

X groaned, rubbing his forehead with the palm on his hand. "Ugh, what happened to us?" he asked, leaning back against the wall behind him. He felt the room spin around him, and he responded by tightly clamping his eyes shut until the sick sensation of spinning had faded.

"Don't know." Dax, sitting against the opposite wall, shrugged. "Whatever it was, it separated all of us. I've been trying to reach the others for some time, but all I'm getting is static."

X shot him an alarmed glance. "You don't think anything's happened to them, do you?" he asked.

"Hard to say," Dax replied. "Though this base is likely large enough that we're simply out of communication range." He stood up, adjusting his helmet to rest more comfortably on his head. "Let's walk for a while," he suggested. "Maybe we'll find one of them, or at least a place where we can use our comms without interference."

X nodded, and the two started to make their way out of the room, all the while using their eyes to scan their surroundings. All around them, all they could see were mountains of scrap metal, some pieces glinting dully in the dim overhead light. "Where are we?" X whispered.

"Looks like a prototype graveyard." Dax's mouth was set in a grim line, his hands tightening their grip on his gun. "I see a lot of scraps laying around, and a few partially assembled units, but no complete ones. I'm willing to bet this is where they send the failed test projects and old combat models to be disassembled."

"Hey! Look at this, Dax!" A few feet behind him, X stood in front of a figure that was half-hidden by shadows and small piles of scrap. "This one looks just like you!"

As he approached, Dax sucked in a sharp breath as he saw its appearance. Even with half its armor removed and most of its internal components gutted, there was no mistaking what it was. Or who it could have been, had circumstances been different.

He shrugged, attempting to keep his cool. "I'm not surprised X," he said evenly. "After all, I _am_ a retired combat model from some years ago. Had it not been for Dr. Kiloh's fastidious maintenance, I'd likely be in a number of pieces in this base." The thought that he could just as easily have been scrapped when his model was retired gave him a slight chill. Seeing what his fate could have been, he swore he would make a better show of his gratitude towards the Doctor.

After several moments staring at his immobile doppelganger, Dax turned back in the direction they had been traveling. "Let's go X," he said. "I'd really like to get out of this place before someone finds us here and adds our parts to one of these scrap piles."

Even before she opened her eyes, Trysta's first sensation was the hardness of the floor beneath her. She opened her eyes and started to lift her head, only to lower it again as she felt a wave of nausea strike her. She pressed her forehead back to the floor, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut until the churning sensation in her stomach had passed.

When her system had settled down, she dared to lift her head once again. Carefully, she opened her eyes, noting hazily that she wasn't wearing her visor. Scanning the room slowly, she spotted it laying a few feet away from her, and slowly rose to her feet so she could retrieve it.

"Where _am_ I?" she asked herself aloud as she fitted the visor back over her eyes. As her vision readjusted to scanning with the visor, she saw it registered several distinct power sources nearby, but little else. "I'm sure I'm somewhere in the base, but where?"

She adjusted the visor's power amplification settings, now using it to scan for a possible exit from her current situation. After a few moments, it registered the unmistakable outline of a door on a wall situated across the room from her. She knew the room was large; her visor could barely register any power sources from the three walls opposite her location. Yet she figured anything was better than sitting in one place waiting for either her teammates or an enemy to show up. Being proactive had its merits, after all.

As she walked toward the door, her visor began to pick up several new energy readings. They were power readings, the kind she often saw when she scanned an individual who was wearing armor. If it was part of a suit of armor –regardless of whether it was internal circuitry, the power source for the user's shield, or the energy supply for their comm unit- it gave off "chatter" that her visor picked up on. And she was picking up a large group of that chatter; a group that was rapidly heading for the opposite side of the exact same door that she herself was walking toward.

As the signals quickly drew nearer, she cast her gaze around the dim room haphazardly, desperate to find a place to hide. She spotted a tall metal pillar standing to her left and dove behind it. She had barely secured herself in her spot when the door opened several feet away. She froze, tensing every muscle in an attempt to remain as silent as possible; one hand moving to cover her mouth and nose to stifle the sound of her breathing.

From her hiding place, she listened to the sounds of several pairs of boots walking through the room, waiting as silently as possible for them to leave. It seemed a rather large group of guards were passing through, too large to be a mere security patrol. This wasn't a good sign; it meant their presence in the base was known. They would all have to be much more careful from that point onward.

Remaining as silent as she could, Trysta knelt behind the pillar and waited to see what the group's next move would be.

Nami frowned as the beeps emanating from her comm unit stopped suddenly. She had followed the trail they pointed to for some time, but still had no idea of her location, or any clue where Axl was. She stopped in her tracks, pressing the green button numerous times in an attempt to start them again. Each time was the same; they would start for a few seconds, only to stop again before she took two steps.

Fighting back the tears that were burning her eyes, Nami leaned against the wall behind her, her hands balled into fists. She was literally at a dead end, not sure whether to keep walking or stay where she was. "I…I don't know where I am," she said softly. "Axl, what do I do?"

"For starters, I'd suggest checking around the room more carefully next time." Said a voice from a dim corner of the room.

The unexpected voice caught her off guard, and she grabbed for her rifle, pointing it in the direction the voice came from and firing two shots in that direction. She heard the sounds of someone dodging her shots, then only heard silence again.

Finger on the trigger, she watched a figure slowly emerge from the gloom, though the dim light made it impossible to see any details. She aimed carefully with her rifle; she had a perfect shot for the center of her target's chest. If this was an enemy, there wouldn't be much left of him after she pulled the trigger. She saw the figure pause, hands in the air, and then she heard the voice again. This time, however, there was no mistaking who it was.

"Hey, Nami. Are you picking up new greetings from Trysta? You know who I am!"

"Axl!" She quickly dropped her rifle and ran to him. When she reached him, she started to throw her arms around his neck, but felt herself hesitate. "I…I'm really glad I was able to find you, Axl," she stammered slightly, covering her embarrassment for nearly hugging him. "I was getting scared, not knowing where I was, and with my comm losing you…"

"It didn't lose me, Nami," Axl replied. "I know these units; they automatically stop tracking when you're within a short distance from your target." He kept his hands at his sides, barely resisting the urge to wrap them around her and embrace her tightly. He'd been worried about her, had worried she wouldn't be able to track him down with only the signal from her comm to guide her. But she had, and there were more important things to do than celebrate merely locating one another.

Nami felt her face redden. "Oh," was all she could manage to say. Why couldn't she have figured that out on her own? Why did it take Axl telling her that for it to sink in?

"Hey, at least you know that now." Gently, Axl rested his hands on her shoulders. "And at least you found me, even if you nearly shot me in the process. So it wasn't all bad."

She smiled, feeling the blush fade from her cheeks. "You're right," she answered. "I did find you…"

Axl's comm crackled to life at that moment. "Axl? Ze…? An…ne there?"

"That sounded like X," Axl activated his comm. "X, it's Axl. Can you hear me?"

"Bar…y. Th…e's lots … atic. Where … you?"

"Use your comm to track my location," Axl replied. "I've found Nami already, but I don't know where the others might be."

"And… ith Dax. W…meet up … ou…"

Axl thought about replying, but there was too much static coming from his comm. As his eyes met Nami's again, he smiled. "Well, that's four of us," he said. "Now all we have to do is meet up and find the others, and we'll be set."

"And I hope we do soon," Nami answered as she walked back to retrieve her dropped rifle. "I'm really not liking this place one bit. Let's regroup, accomplish our mission, and go home."

Trysta felt her heart race slightly as the majority of the group exited the room again, leaving behind three individuals who remained standing in the center of the room. She noted what little she could make out of their appearances; drab-colored armors with matching helmets didn't glow too brightly when scanned by a visor. Still, they didn't seem to be too big of a threat, so she stayed where she was and merely observed them.

After a few minutes spent straining to listen to their nearly inaudible conversation, she decided there had to be a better way to eavesdrop. Adjusting the earpieces of her visor to fit more snugly over her ears, she pressed a pair of tiny buttons located in one of the earpieces. For the few moments it took to connect the auditory system to the main sensory system, all she heard from her earpieces was a low humming sound that varied in volume. Finally, the noise cleared, allowing her to more clearly hear the sounds around her, including the conversation that was taking place within the nearby trio.

"_So, boss wants us to scout around here_?" One of them asked, his tone conveying his confusion. "_What are we looking for, exactly_?"

"_Orders from above, I hear._" The second one's voice had a noticeable accent, one that Trysta couldn't place. Not that she cared enough to want to try. "_Ya didn't hear it from me, but I heard tha' the whole 'rerouting' attempt thing failed pretty miserably, and that lot's scattered about the base here. We're to be on the lookout for 'em while our leaders correct their little mistake._"

"_But I hear a few of them are S Class Maverick Hunters._" The first one retorted, obviously agitated. "_If I remember the stories about them right, they're practically unbeatable. Personally, I'd rather not run into any of them._"

"_Then you're a damned coward_," remarked the third. "_I hear they ain't so tough. They're, what, 250 years old now? Think of how far along we Reploids have come in two and a half centuries. You think a bunch of antiques are really gonna beat us_?"

"_B'sides_," the second one added. "_I hear at least one o'em would prefer to live in peace over fighting. You really think we'd lose against a bunch of pacifists?"_

"_Well_…" The first one began hesitantly.

Trysta never gave him a chance to finish his thought. Finding she was rapidly becoming bored with listening to their banter, she stepped out from behind the pillar, pistols drawn and held in her hands. She felt a growing smirk spread across her lips as she looked at the trio before her. They had drawn their guns as soon as they saw her, even as they stared at her in mute shock. Yes, this little group would be easy to beat in a fight. Pathetically easy, at that.

"_It's one of them! Open fire!"_

Seeing a spray of projectiles heading directly toward her, Trysta rolled to her right in order to dodge the volley. As she straightened, she let loose with her own two pistols, her smirk growing as she watched their bullets penetrate the armor worn by one of her opponents.

"Ha! Like that?" she taunted as she watched him drop to the floor. She continued to dodge the bullets fired by the remaining two soldiers, periodically letting loose with her own counterattack.

After several minutes of dodging and counterattacking, Trysta raised her pistols to fire another few rounds at her attackers. Nothing happened when she squeezed the triggers. She tried a few more times, each time the same as the last, and she finally noticed the red lights that were blinking furiously on the barrel of each pistol. She groaned inwardly, those blinking lights told her the weapons' energy packs were totally depleted. She had just wasted a pair of her better weapons on a completely frivolous fight.

That moment of distraction was all the remaining soldiers needed. One of them grabbed a small gun from his belt and pulled the trigger. Trysta attempted to dodge, but felt her left foot slip on the smooth floor, causing her to drop to her knees before she could stop herself. As she tried to stand up, she was aware of something tightly wrapping around her wrists, causing her to drop her pistols. Looking down at her wrists, she saw they were tightly bound by a length of lasso cable, which had been fired from the gun held in the soldier's hands. She struggled against the imprisoning cable, which only tightened in response.

"_Heh, not so tough now, are ya, Miss?_" The other soldier was approaching her, his rifle gleaming ominously in the view field of her visor. "_Where's yer cockiness now?_" Slowly, he raised his rifle and aimed down the barrel, the tiny light of the sight pointing directly at her forehead. "_You certainly are a pretty little thing._ _Maybe I'll be nice enough to let you say some pretty words before I put a shot between yer eyes._"

She continued to fight the cable that held her, though her eyes never strayed from the soldier who now aimed his weapon at her. If she didn't get free, there wouldn't be enough left of her for the others to find!

_This is such a bad day to be me._ She thought to herself. _But I don't want it to end like this!_

The seconds seemed to tick by like years as she was forced to wait helplessly for her foe to pull the trigger. Suddenly, the far-left portion of her visor picked up a blur of motion. She turned her head to look in the direction it came from, but her visor detected no further movement. Still, she knew she had seen something!

"_Hey! Hold still, you!_" the harsh words caused her to jerk her focus back to the reploid pointing a rifle at her. Suddenly, he let out a shout, and the barrel of the rifle was sliced off in a sudden flash of light. He fell backwards, sitting there stunned for several seconds, the ruined rifle still in his hands as he stared at it in shock.

Trysta's gaze followed the severed piece of the barrel as it dropped to the floor. As it struck with an echoing clink, she heard someone land a few feet in front of her. She shifted her gaze to see the crouched figure in front of her, weapon poised for another strike. It shifted slightly, allowing her to catch a glimpse of long blond hair cascading from the back of its helmet.

"Z…Zero?" she somehow managed to blurt out. She hated her tone immediately; it sounded too desperate, too needy to have come from her. Still, considering she was effectively helpless with her hands restrained, she welcomed his help.

Mentally, Zero kicked himself for rushing into the middle of this fight. He shouldn't have gotten involved; he should have let "Little Miss High and Mighty" fight her own fight. He had told himself that as they were transported here, promised himself he would stay out of any trouble she got herself into.

Well, so much for that promise. Maybe it was the effects of having been rerouted that affected his mind and made him quick to jump to her aid. Maybe it was that instinct to protect someone against an unfair fight. He really had no clue what made him draw his weapon and defend her, but he was there. No turning back now unless he wanted to get them both killed.

He was surprised to hear her say his name; he would have figured her too proud to make any acknowledgment of him. But he heard it, heard his name in a voice tinged with shock and desperation. He knew that, had he not appeared when he did, she wouldn't have survived this fight. Cocky little amateur, she'd gotten herself in over her head with this fight. Hadn't she ever learned how to be discreet and steer clear of being noticed?

He figured the lessons in stealth and judgment could wait for a later time, since there were still two menacing reploid soldiers to deal with. He raised his head, staring at the one who held the lasso whip gun. "Well, seems you two never learned the concept of an 'honorable' fight," he remarked. "Otherwise, this two-on-one scuffle wouldn't be one in which your opponent can't even defend herself." He tsked sarcastically, shaking his head in disgust. "And you call yourselves soldiers."

"_That's 'cause we are soldiers_," barked the reploid coldly. "_I'd like to know who you think you are, stepping in the middle of this like you know what you're doing._"

"Who am I?" Zero asked mockingly. "I'm no one, really. Just an S Class Maverick Hunter. But that's pretty meaningless, isn't it?" He cast a cursory glance over his shoulder at the young woman who knelt behind him. "Why don't you let the girl go, and face me, fighter to fighter? Then we'll see who doesn't know what he's doing."

"_So you're one of those Hunters everyone's been talking about around here. Fair enough, I'll take you up on your little challenge. But the girl isn't getting off so easily._" He disconnected the line from the barrel of the gun before holstering the gun on his belt; simultaneously the line wrapped the rest of its length around her wrists, keeping them secured. "_You beat me, red boy, and the girl can go. Otherwise, she gets a shot to the forehead. Got it?_"

Zero nodded. "Fair enough," he answered, ignoring the outraged glare he was sure was coming from Trysta. If _she_ had had any say in it, she certainly wouldn't be going for such an arrangement! But, seeing as how she was somewhat tied up at the moment, the decision-making had defaulted to him. Not that he was sure he liked it.

He held his Z-Saber at the ready, watching as the second of the two stood up to join his comrade. "You two will likely regret this before we're all through. But I guess you'll have to learn the hard way."

His two opponents glared at him. "_Enough yakkin' outta ya_," growled the other, pulling a pair of long knives from their holders on his back. "_When we're through with you, you'll regret gettin' in the middle of this._"

"Dax!" Nami's shout was happy as she spotted her tall, armored friend. Breaking into a run, she left Axl behind and raced to Dax, who caught her in a hug that was both firm and gentle. She knew this hug all too well; it was meant to be comforting without causing her pain. He had retained his incredible strength even years after coming into Dr. Kiloh's service, and he knew squeezing her with too much of that strength could be harmful. So he always tried to be as gentle as possible; doubly so when he wore his armor.

"Nami, I'm so glad you're safe." Dax smoothed a hand against the armor's shell that covered her back, feeling her shake slightly. As he felt her tremble, he fought the sudden rush of anger at Trysta for what she had done. Nami was obviously terrified; and with good reason, as this was not the element she and Rei had been designed to be in. They were research reploids with only a few fighting capabilities available to them, a far cry from the sophisticated targeting and weapons systems he possessed as a combat reploid.

So why had Trysta insisted they come along?

She lifted her head, tears making her gray eyes shimmer. "I…I know," she said softly. "I was so scared, waking up and realizing I was in this strange place all alone." She straightened up, wiping her eyes with her hand. "But at least we're all together."

"That's right," Axl interjected as he approached them. "And I'm sure we'll find the others in no time!"

"I think so too," X added. "All we need to do is navigate this labyrinth of a base. I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere."

Nami looked around for a moment. "You guys didn't find Rei, did you?" she asked.

Dax shook his head. "No, we didn't," he replied. "Personally, I was hoping you would have found her." His jaw tensed as he saw the tears start to return to her eyes. "Now, don't get upset Nami," he rested his large hands on her shoulders as he soothed her. "After all, we still need to find Trysta and Zero. Maybe she's found her way to one of them."

Her expression was questioning. "Do…do you think so?" she asked hesitantly.

He shrugged in reply. "Well, it's better than assuming she's in trouble, isn't it?" He gave her a reassuring smile, which he saw returned with a small smile of her own. "Well, let's get going then. The quicker we get moving, the sooner we'll find the others."

"Good idea Dax," X walked toward a nearby door, touching a button on the control panel on the nearby wall. "All of our comms are still being jammed, but that doesn't mean we can't still try to find them."

"Could…could we track the others?" Nami asked. "Use the units to try and locate the others, like I did with Axl?"

Dax nodded. "We can try, but I'd prefer not standing around here trying to activate the tracking system," he explained, walking toward the now-open door. "Why don't we see if we can't get the it up and running as we go?"


	10. Chapter 9: Abandoned

"Hm, they're starting to regroup."

Behind him, he could hear the soft squeak of her chair spinning to face him. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You know you've been wrong before in this mission."

He ignored the jab, knowing it wasn't worth replying. "Trust me, sis," he answered flatly. "I'm watching it on the monitors as we speak. You know, the ones right in front of us, the ones that show everything going on in the base. The ones…"

"Enough. I get the idea." Her tone was clipped, and he swore he could almost feel her eyes burning into the back of his chair. "And yes, I see what you mean. They seem more competent than we'd been planning for, don't they?"

"Mm." Hands flew over control panels, and status windows appeared on the monitors as he scrolled through them. "A couple of them have taken out a small squad of guards. Not bad for the age those Hunters are."

"Don't forget, the girl is with them, too." She sat in the chair that was beside his, her thumb lightly stroking the whip that lay coiled in her lap. "I've heard enough about her to not treat her too lightly. Remember, it's our necks if we fail the Master on this mission."

He sighed. "Don't remind me. I'm trying not to think of that," he answered, touching a few more keys. "I'm sending a few more squads out now. Hopefully, that will slow them down some."

"Good." On a nearby monitor, she pulled up a new screen, a smile crossing her lips. "Shall we also begin initiation of Phase Two?"

He frowned, his face illuminated in the eerie glow of the monitor he faced. "Phase Two?" he asked, his tone puzzled. "But we're nowhere near ready to launch that. We don't have a stable power source for the mechanism, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," she replied, her tone bemused. "But, if I recall correctly, didn't you say the optimal power source was something roughly about the size of a human?" She saw the interest that flickered in his gaze. "Or, a reploid?"

He raised an eyebrow, a gesture that widened the smile on her lips. "What are you thinking, sis?" he asked.

She slid her chair slightly to the side, pointing to the monitor sitting in front of her. "Come, take a look at this."

* * *

Rei wiped the stinging tears from her eyes as she watched the reploid in front of her topple backwards. Her hands shook as they held the small pistols she carried, trembled so badly she couldn't holster them properly the first several times she tried. Biting back a sob, she continued through the dim rooms, looking for any sign of the others.

She was scared. She had been scared from the moment she woke up alone in this place. There was no sign of the rest of the group, and her only weapons were the twin stun pistols, which were rapidly running out of energy.

So she continued onward, through rooms that looked the same as ones she had just left and down halls that were either full of guards or eerily quiet. She bit her lip more than once to silence a fearful whimper as she moved; combat wasn't something she was used to in any manner, and she swore she wouldn't get used to it any time soon. Once in a while, she would activate her comm and attempt to raise the others with it, but her only reply was the monotonous hissing of static.

She stopped in front of a large door, the light of a control panel flashing near her elbow. Pushing a couple buttons, Rei stepped back in alarm as the doors slid open, allowing her to enter the room beyond. This was a much different room from the others she had walked through; it was well-lit and almost filled by the largest machine she had ever seen. Even the largest lab components at Obsidian were dwarfed by its size. She wasn't sure what it was or what it was used for, and she wasn't too keen on finding out the answer to either question at that time. She just wanted to get back to the others as soon as she could.

She took a few cautious steps around it, hoping it wasn't active and wouldn't be able to sense her. Halfway across the room, she paused and looked over her shoulder, letting out a small sigh as she saw it sitting in the same position it had been in. Obviously, it wasn't powered up.

"_I don't think you belong here, little one._" That female voice snapped Rei back to attention. She turned her head to face the direction she had been heading, only to see a figure blocking her path. She reached for her stun pistols, gripping them in her hands before she felt a strange stinging sensation in her neck.

The world began to spin around her, and all Rei could remember was the world turning into an endless environment of white.

* * *

Beneath the blade of his saber, Zero felt no resistance as it sliced cleanly through the forearm of his opponent. His eyes followed the severed limb as it fell with a loud thud to the floor, a few sparks accompanying the reddish-hued oil that oozed slowly from within. He saw his opponent's eyes grow to twice their regular size with the realization of what had happened, followed by his clutching the sparking stump where his hand had been only moments before.

The other reploid began to scream, sounds of pain and horror echoing through the room. Zero barely heard the agonized sounds that came from his opponent. He had learned a long time ago how to block his enemies' voices from his hearing, lest he go insane from their shouts and shrieks of pain. That trick had worked in countless battles, allowing him to overpower and dispatch practically any enemy who dared cross his path.

While he waited for the cries to subside, Zero gave a cursory glance at the other body that lay nearby. Its torso still smoked from a gaping hole through the chest, the place where a saber had cleanly impaled through the material as though it were nothing. That reploid had put up a decent fight; Zero found his irritation grew as he mentally tallied up the multitude of tiny holes punched in his armor by his opponent's projectile blaster. In the end, the weapon's undoing was its unstable design, which left it prone to overheating and wasting energy to cool itself back to an ideal operating temperature. That opening had been all Zero needed to take his enemy out before he could resume firing. It had been almost too easy, as this foe was practically defenseless without a functional weapon.

Narrowing his eyes, Zero pointed the tip of his saber at his opponent's neck. "Now, I could easily kill you right here, and no one would care one bit," he stated flatly. "No one except for you, of course. But, we could use some information, and you seem to be a pretty good source."

"_I…I know nothin', Hunter._" In spite of his pain, the other reploid's tone was still defiant. "_Nothin' tha' could be o'any use to ya._"

Gritting his teeth, Zero pressed the tip of his blade closer to his foe's neck, blocking his ears to the cry of pain as it burned the skin. "Don't think I believe that for a moment," he said, his tone taking on a dangerous edge. "You know a lot more than you're letting on, so why not be a pal and help us out?"

"_Oh, I could tell you what you wanna know. But…_" Zero watched in shock as smoke began to filter from around the other reploid's eyes. "_But __**they**__ wouldn't be happy wit' me for tellin'._" The smoke was growing thicker, some now escaping from his nostrils and ears as well. "_Jus' you wait, Hunter. They'll take care of you and yer little friends…they always do._" The reploid's mouth curled into a maniacal smirk even as his body crumpled to the floor, smoke pouring from its head.

"'Them'? Who are you talking about?" Zero glared at the body at his feet even as the smoke began to fade in the large room. "Who are they?" He heard no answer, saw no further movement from the figure. It would be of no use to him now; most likely any memory circuits that had survived would be too damaged to get any data from.

"Damn…" he swore, the sound echoing in the large room. "What do I do now?"

"Here's an idea: how about getting my hands free?" Trysta's voice, tinged with irritation, came from behind him. "After all, I can't do much with my hands bound like this."

Zero felt more than a twinge of irritation himself. He had all but forgotten that she was there, had been so focused on his fight that he blocked everything else from his thoughts. Now that the fighting was over, he would have to deal with that obnoxious, difficult girl yet again. He wondered what she had done to end up in the mess she was in, wondered if she had managed to blow their cover at all with her antics.

Glad that his helmet mostly concealed the scowl on his face, Zero lowered his saber's power output to minimum. It was sufficient power to cut through the bindings without being enough to hurt her, though he figured a severed hand would teach her not to be so cocky in the future. Approaching her with his weapon, he noted the lack of emotion in her features, though the visor's obscuring her eyes likely had more to do with that than anything else. Carefully maneuvering the tip of the blade, he sliced it through the tough material that held her wrists. He took a step back as she immediately pulled her hands apart, her bonds dropping to the floor without a sound.

Trysta stood up slowly, flexing her wrists to ease their stiffness. "I could think of thirty different things I could say to you right now," she said, bending down to pick up her discarded pistols. "But 'thanks' seems to be the best fit for the current situation."

The lack of gratitude in her voice annoyed him. True, he didn't expect glowing praise for what he did, but damn it all, why couldn't she show more appreciation? "That's all I get? A paltry 'thanks'?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest. "What the hell were you doing? Do you realize what could have happened had I not come along?"

She shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not a sentimental girl by nature," she replied. "As for what I was doing, I was killing time. That trio of idiots was in my way, I figured taking them out would be the best course of action, especially since this room doesn't have much in the way of cover."

"Right. You do realize that 'that trio of idiots' had you disarmed and restrained, with a gun pointed at your face, don't you?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her, feeling a bit more irritated that her face still showed little in the way of emotion. "What were you going to do? Glare them to death?"

She held up a hand. "Disarmed and restrained, yes. At a disadvantage? Hardly." She retorted. "I'm sure I would have come up with something had you not decided to show up when you did."

"_Decided_?" he spat back, his tone incredulous. "Like I had a choice in whether or not to come this way. It was the only path I could follow that didn't either dead-end or lead me in circles." He took a few steps toward her, slightly surprised when she took a small step backward. "Did you even _think_ about what you were doing?" he asked coldly, his eyes scanning her face. "Did it ever cross your mind that you might blow our cover with your little act?" He gritted his teeth as she remained silent, his temper fraying a bit with her continued lack of expression. "Answer me, dammit!"

She tightened her jaw, chin lifting slightly. "You want an answer?" she asked, her tone low. "All right, I'll give you an answer. I didn't consider what I was doing before I jumped in. But I didn't just pick a fight for the hell of it. They were already talking about searching for us, Zero. I figured it was only a matter of time before they found me here, so I decided to speed things up somewhat." She paused, her gaze shifting around the room for a moment. "Well, that coupled with my not fully recovering from the redirect sickness doesn't exactly lead to the best choices, does it?"

Zero wasn't buying any of it, convincing as she tried to sound. "Cut the excuses," he retorted. "I don't care what the hell happened to you. You knew damn well what you were doing. And what you were doing may have very well jeopardized this entire mission. I hope you're proud of yourself."

Anger blurring her vision, she moved her right hand to backhand him across the face. Her action was thwarted when his iron grip clamped down on her forearm, stopping her from moving it any closer to him. She pushed against him for several moments in vain; he wasn't giving an inch.

"Of all the people I don't need a lecture from, _you_ are at the top of the list," she sneered, the narrowing of her eyes mostly hidden by her visor. "_You_, of anyone I've ever met, have no place lecturing me about right and wrong. You'd be better off remembering that."

He gritted his teeth as he released her arm, turning away so as not to dignify her retort with one of his own. He'd always prided himself on remaining cool at times like this, so why was this difficult, insulting girl starting to get under his collar? Whatever the reason, he didn't like it, didn't like the weakness it seemed to show in him.

Deciding to focus on something other than her, he knelt beside the remains of the reploid he had tried to interrogate. "Think there might be anything usable here, data-wise?" he asked flatly.

She shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure," she answered in a similar flat tone. "I've never seen a reploid rigged to self-incinerate its memory system." Approaching the body, she pulled a pair of wires from her visor.

Zero raised an eyebrow. "What are those for?" he asked.

"They're data access lines," she answered. "They're used to download any usable data contained within a system. If there is anything usable still left in this reploid's memory, it should load up to my visor, albeit in a raw form that I can't use." She knelt beside the body as she inserted the plugs into matching data ports in the reploid's neck. After a moment, her visor beeped, indicating there was data that could be downloaded. "Hopefully, this won't take long," she added.

"So that visor can only store data, it can't alter it at all?" Zero asked, surprised that technology as sophisticated as that was in the hands of a loose cannon like her.

She nodded. "My data alteration capabilities are incredibly limited with this visor," she replied. "It just isn't powerful enough to compress and manipulate data to the extent that I would need it. Luckily, the computer systems back at Obsidian are more than capable of handling what this thing can't." She sighed as the visor began blinking with its download readouts. "Lot of garbage data in here. Looks like this guy managed to torch his head pretty well."

"Anything we might be able to use?"

She shrugged. "Bits and pieces, from what the readouts are telling me. It's impossible to know for sure until we get this back to Obsidian and I can clean it up better." Hearing the series of beeps that told her the download was completed, she pulled the wires from their plugs before standing back up.

Zero was about to ask another question when he heard a voice from his comm.

"_Ze…? Whe… …you?"_

"X?" Ignoring the sudden blare of static, Zero spoke into his comm. "X, it's me. Where are you?"

"…_know. Some…re in …ase. Dax …ith me. …mi and Axl."_

"Glad to know they're all okay," Trysta said, leaning her back against the pillar. "Hopefully we can regroup soon and get this mission over with."

Zero nodded. "Yeah, I'm with Trysta. We'll stay put until you guys get here."

"…_ll right. We… …ck your ..ignal. Be …ere soon."_

"All right. See you soon." Zero switched off his comm, shaking his head at the faceless enemy who was impeding their mission.

Trysta let out a sigh. "So, I guess we sit here and wait for them to show up," she said. "Can't say I'm too happy with that."

"No use in getting any more lost than we already are," Zero answered. "This place is like a damn maze."

Watching him from behind her visor, Trysta felt a mixture of annoyance and frustration with him, along with some other mix of emotions she couldn't quite place. While he did annoy the hell out of her, and she wanted nothing more than to smack his attitude out of him, she had to admit he was a damn good fighter. She would probably never tell him directly, but she felt a small amount of pride that he was working with them. They needed all the help they could get, and he was certainly capable.

She silently leaned against the pillar for a few more moments, until a thought caused her to stand up again. "X didn't mention anything about Rei, did he?" she asked. "Do you think she's with them as well?"

He shrugged. "Hard to say," he replied. "We can only hope that she's either on her way this direction, or that she met up with them, but the static made it impossible for X to tell me she was there."

"But what if she's not? What if she's in trouble?"

He shook his head slowly. "I really wish I knew, to be honest."

Trysta bit at her lip slightly. "Rei…" she said softly. "I didn't want this to happen. I really didn't want her to possibly end up in trouble. Had I known everything would fall apart the way it has, I wouldn't have insisted she and Nami come along."

Zero sighed. His dislike for her aside, he knew her beating herself up for what had happened wouldn't solve anything. Crossing the small distance between them, he rested a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know how the gesture might be taken, but he didn't care. Beneath his hand, he felt her tense briefly, but she didn't do anything to remove his hand. That surprised him, as he half-expected her to shake his hand off her shoulder while yelling at him to never touch her.

"Look, I know you're worried about her," he began. "Hell, I'm worried about all of us. This mission's gone wrong from the get-go. But we can't go running off half-cocked to look for her. All that's going to do is insure we wind up in worse trouble than we already are." He saw the questioning look she gave him. "Yes, we're in trouble right now," he continued. "We're all separated from one another in an enemy facility with our communications hampered. I'd say that's trouble, wouldn't you?"

She smiled a bit. "Yeah, I guess that's a good definition of 'trouble'," she said. "It just kills me that she might be out there all alone looking for the rest of us. She and Nami weren't designed for combat, but Nami at least can adapt to it if necessary. Rei, on the other hand…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.

Awkwardly, he gave her shoulder a squeeze before releasing it. "I'm sure she's all right," he said. "Once we regroup with X and the others, we can look for her…"

He cut himself off as a memory filtered into his mind, one of an individual who had been dear enough to make him reconsider being a Hunter. He shook his head abruptly to clear the thought from his mind. Distractions at a time like this would only get him killed.

* * *

In spite of the strong temptation to do so, he resisted the urge to smirk at his sister's anger. In the past, the few times he had done so had resulted in him walking away with bruises he didn't think he had asked for. Instead, he flicked his gaze over to where she sat in her chair, eyes narrowed darkly as she stared at the screen in front of her. Mentally, he winced; if looks could burn, that poor monitor would have melted ten minutes ago.

"How?" she asked coldly. "How could that have happened? One minute she was there, the next, the damn camera went on the fritz!" She slapped her hand angrily against the table next to her. "And when I managed to get the stupid piece of garbage to run correctly again, she was gone. The feed was only cut for a few seconds, so what the hell happened?"

He shrugged. "Don't look at me," he replied. "I'm just as baffled as you are about this. I wouldn't have thought she could slip through our grasp that easily. Of course, that's likely why the Master always insists we have our target in our custody before we make any further plans.

"Shut up," she snapped. She had sat and watched that girl on the monitor, convinced she would be the perfect energy source to power the machine that served as their backup plan. But now she was gone, and there was little chance of getting a new power source without significant risk. She gritted her teeth, raging silently against all her wasted planning.

"Still," he continued. "I wonder who could have done it," he turned back to his screen, tapping a few buttons on the control panel. "I doubt anyone in their group would have enough knowledge of this base to attempt it."

"Of course not! The only ones who have enough knowledge of the layout of this dump are..." she trailed off for a moment, "...the guards."

Shocked, he swiveled his chair back around to face her. "You don't think we have spies amongst the guards, do you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised, in all honesty," she answered. "After all, this group found out about us. So I'm sure others could have easily planted a few spies in with the guards. It would be a good way to get a constant feed of information from in here."

"Interesting. The next problem is how to find any purported 'spies' in this place."

She smirked icily. "Leave that to me," she said. "You know my knack for finding things, after all."


	11. Chapter 10: Reactivation

**(A/N: Apologies to my readers for this update taking so long. I've been dealing with a lot of personal drama, which sucked away my inspiration for writing. I'm happy to say that I'm back, and I hope to finish this particular story arc very soon. Also, apologies if this chapter seems a bit short, I couldn't think of anything else to add to it that couldn't wait for the next chapter. Thanks, and enjoy!)**

After what seemed like ages to her, Rei felt herself begin to come around. The white light that had been her final sight had been gone for some time, replaced by the familiar darkness she knew whenever she closed her eyes. She opened them slowly, allowing them to adjust to the dimness of her surroundings. It seemed she was in a room that wasn't quite as dim as the halls she had passed through.

Her head throbbed as she sat up. In the entire time she had existed, there were many days that Rei cursed her ability to feel pain. It didn't matter what caused it, nor the degree of it. She just knew she hated feeling it. She had done many things over the years to injure herself, thankfully none of them were more severe than catching a few fingers in a closing door or being burned by a hot surface. Still, the pain was a nuisance, one that she marveled humans could handle as well as they did. She figured they adjusted themselves to the ever-present threat of discomfort, theorizing that it was preferable to stop an activity upon feeling the start of an injury rather than risking greater harm by continuing.

She tensed as she heard approaching footsteps; that tension was immediately followed by the all-too familiar stinging sensation of freed circuitry, the one that told her something was damaged. It tended to happen to her periodically, whether due to her own clumsiness or her becoming an unwilling co-conspirator to one of Nami or Trysta's wild ideas. Like the last time Nami thought it was funny to change Dax's access codes when Dr. Kiloh was performing maintenance on him...

A tiny arc of electricity from the damaged wiring in her shoulder caused her vision to blur, jabbing a spear of pain between her eyes as it did. Stifling a groan, Rei cradled her head in her hands, trying to will the discomfort to go away. The pain was clearly of the spiteful type, as it only intensified, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut in a vain attempt to be rid of it.

"Here. Let me take a look at that for you." The female voice was firm yet kind. It reminded Rei of how Trysta would sound if she didn't have that tone of superiority grafted to her vocal cords at all times. She heard the scraping sound of metal against the hard floor as the other figure moved closer. She heard the other individual hum to herself as she surveyed the damaged area, punctuated every so often by a muttered curse and a vow to cause someone "some real hurt" once she was done.

"Well, Pretty, you've got a fair bit of circuitry damaged here," the strange female replied. "Luckily, it isn't anything I can't fix. I'll have you back in perfect working order in a few minutes. And with any luck, you'll _stay_ in order, provided Taze doesn't get near you again."

"_Hey! I said I was sorry!_" A second voice cut in abruptly. This one was male, and from what Rei could tell, it came from a location a few feet from where she was.

The female let out a snort, then seemed to return her attention to Rei. "All right then, Pretty. Guess I'll get working on fixing you up." Rei could hear the sound of various tools being activated. "Fortunately for you, because these circuits are damaged, you won't feel any pain while they're being fixed. The only bad news is it's a pretty tedious operation to get the old ones out and the new ones in. In other words, I can fix you, and you won't feel much of it, but it'll take some time."

In spite of her pain, Rei gave a slight nod. "Do...do what you need to do," she said quietly. "Just be careful."

"I will. Believe me, Pretty. I will."

* * *

"_Trysta!_" Dax's sudden shout through the dim silence startled Trysta enough that she drew her pistol, spinning around to point it in the direction the shout came from. Only once she felt her heart rate return to normal -not to mention remembering her pistols were out of energy- did she lower her weapon. She knew his voice well enough; there was no reason for her to have her weapon drawn asides from the combination of the dark room and her own frayed nerves kicking in.

Zero stood just behind her, his eyes scanning the room. "I have to say, they're quick," he said. "It didn't take them nearly as long to get here as I'd figured."

Trysta nodded in agreement. "Likewise. Whatever's jamming our signals is also making it hard to tell where everyone is. The directional tool in our comms has been reduced to bare-minimum functionality, which limits its range to only a few meters, at best." She holstered her gun, kneeling to pick up the energy packs from the weapons of their prior opponents. "I'm just glad they're safe." She added as she popped the packs into her pistols. They were far from fully replenished, but the extra energy would do in a pinch.

"Do you think they found Rei while they were heading over here?" Zero asked.

She shrugged. "I hope so, but until they're visible, your guess is as good as mine. I just wish these damn rooms weren't so dark. Even with its sensitivity set to max, my visor is barely picking up any readings from them."

It was on the tip of his tongue to mock Trysta and her "human" eyes, with their decreased sensitivity in dark locales, but Zero kept silent. Such an observation -accurate as it was- would only set her off again, and that was an annoyance he could do without for a good long time. "Don't you have other sensors in that thing, ones that could detect individuals without needing to see them?" he asked instead.

"I did, until that last little skirmish I got into," she replied. "For some reason, its identity sensors aren't responding when I attempt to activate them. I'm not sure if the wiring suffered damage in that fight, or if the circuitry is just damaged from age and usage."

Zero frowned, thankful he was out of her range of vision so she couldn't see it. "Not good for you, from the sounds of it," he said. "If all the rooms are this dark, you'll be at a disadvantage in a fight."

She smirked. "Well then, I'll have to make sure any fights are carried out under super-bright lights." she answered. She was about to continue when she heard Nami's voice through the gloom.

"Trysta!" Nami shouted, running up to her and hugging her. Trysta, though initially surprised by the gesture, returned it gently. After several seconds, she pulled away; as she did, she gently held Nami by the shoulders, as though the simple gesture of hugging wasn't one she was comfortable with.

"I'm just glad you're all right, Nami," she answered, her tone showing a tinge of awkwardness at her friend's outburst. "It hasn't been easy getting to this point, but it's good to see you all here."

Axl nodded. "Yeah, it was quite a ride to get in here, but I'm glad we're finally getting to regroup. Now all we need to do is find out the source of all this and put it out of commission for good."

Trysta raised an eyebrow. "Considering we still don't know what we're up against here, that could be easier said than done," she said. "Unless we can find some kind of technical readings on what's going on in here -or even do something as simple as taking down the system that's jamming our communications- we're literally flying blind."

"Sounds like we need to find a control room or other central hub for this place," X replied. "Maybe we can find a simple computer terminal, one that would grant us access enough to download a schematic or some sort of facility map that would help us locate it."

"I...I saw a few terminals while I was looking for everyone," Nami replied. "I don't know that they still functioned, but they looked like they might be helpful."

"And where there's a few terminals, there's bound to be more," Axl finished for her. "Come on. Let's find one and take these losers out!"

"Hold on just a minute." Dax's voice echoed a bit in the large room. He had been scanning the room since they had entered, but asides from the duo standing before him, found no other active energy sources. Which meant only one thing in his mind...

Fists clenched, he advanced on Trysta, stopping a few feet from where she stood. "Where's Rei, Trysta?" he asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "I don't pick up any readings besides our own. Where is she?"

Trysta shrugged slightly. "I don't know, Dax," she replied. "I had hoped she was with you."

"We thought she would be with you," X interjected. _At least, that's what I was hoping..._

She was glad the room was dim enough to hide the slight paling of her face at the realization her friend was lost. "This...this place is so large, she could have wound up anywhere when we were redirected," she began, her tone sounding less certain than it did normally. "I had hoped she would find her way back to us on her own. But now..."

She never finished her sentence. She would curse herself later for forgetting Dax's ability to move quickly when the situation asked for it.

Before she could react, she felt the back of his hand violently strike across the right side of her face. She staggered, the blow knocking her off-balance enough to stun her considerably. She heard the loud clatter of her visor hitting the floor next to her, knocked from her eyes by the force of the hit. As she started to straighten up, a second strike to her face -from his fist, this time- knocked her to the floor, the ribs on her left side absorbing the hard impact. She instantly tasted blood in her mouth, and she spat several times to clear the blood that had suddenly begun to pool inside her mouth. She quickly ran her tongue over her teeth, checking to make sure none of them had come loose from the force of the hit; she felt a surge of relief that they were all still solidly anchored in her mouth, though the injuries to her mouth still caused her to wince. Not only had her lower lip been split, but the insides of her cheeks had sustained some wounds, all of which bled a bit too heavily for her liking.

"_Shut up!_" Dax shouted, his eyes narrowed angrily. "I'm tired of your excuses! Every time something happens, it's _never_ your fault. There's always some 'circumstance' or other that lets you off the hook. Well, I'm not going to let this slide, Trysta! If it hadn't been for you, Rei wouldn't be in this mess to begin with!"

Trysta spat again, then wiped away the blood that lingered on her lips. "Dax, that isn't true," she retorted. "They wanted to come..."

"Spare me your crap, Trysta," he sneered back in response. "You weren't supposed to know about this mission to begin with, let alone be part of it. And you held the entire mission for ransom out of some petty little desire for glory for yourself. That alone is bad enough, but to drag Nami and Rei into your little ego-trip, knowing damn well they aren't suited for combat, makes things even worse."

"Oh, please." Despite the slight spinning sensation she felt in her head, Trysta glared darkly in Dax's direction. "Tell me, Dax, when have _you_ given them any sort of task, asides from the mundane crap back at the lab? At least here, they have a job to do besides window-dressing and routine number-crunching." She could faintly hear him snort angrily, but she didn't care. "Everyone back at Obsidian treats them like they're made of glass, like they'll crack if they're so much as touched wrong. They're judged as being 'too delicate' for the more difficult, dangerous lab work, and I'm really getting tired of it."

She heard Dax walk toward her, and braced herself for another volley from him. "Say what you want, and think what you will, but I won't treat them like they're delicate and useless," she continued. "I've practically grown up with them as my companions. In my mind, they're as capable of fighting as you. No, I take that back. I think they're _more_ capable than you are of fighting, if only because they aren't antiquated piles of scrap like you are!"

Nami, seeing that Dax was raising his fist in preparation for another strike, ran over to him, grabbing his arm tightly. "Dax, stop!" she cried, her expression showing her fear. "Hurting Trysta isn't going to help us find Rei!"

"It also isn't going to help us accomplish this mission." Zero surprised himself by hearing his own voice in defense of Trysta. "Whether you like it or not, they're all here, and none of us are able to leave until this job is done." He further surprised himself by moving to stand between Dax and Trysta, a sentiment he knew the others in the group all shared. He thought he was the absolute last individual who would stand up for that arrogant girl; she asked for this to happen, and she got what she deserved. Yet, something about her being attacked didn't sit right with him. He wasn't sure what it was, though he figured part of it had to do with their current circumstances not being Trysta's fault.

"She didn't choose to have things turn out this way," he heard himself continue, hearing Trysta move to stand up behind him. "I doubt anyone would choose that. All we can do from here is get back on track."

He silenced himself immediately, shocked at the words that were coming from him. Here he had just been thinking she deserved what punishment Dax was dishing out, but the words coming from his mouth were saying something totally different. Instead of berating her for her stupidity, or congratulating Dax on his actions, he was standing up for her.

There was still one question that was foremost in his mind, however. Did he actually believe those words, or were they as hollow as the room they all stood in?

"Zero's right," X chimed in at that moment, moving to stand next to his friend. "She didn't intend for any of this to happen, and I'm sure she wouldn't have insisted on bringing the girls if she knew it would happen. Instead of bickering and pointing fingers, let's focus on finding Rei and finishing this mission."

Dax let out an angry-sounding growl, his shoulders tensing as he struggled to calm himself down. Being the girls' self-appointed "big brother", he tended to be more than a bit protective of them. But the Hunters were right, he was letting his emotions and his worry about Rei get the better of him. She wouldn't want him to fly off the handle and hurt Trysta, regardless of what that silly girl got them into. And now that he had done so, he felt a horrible wave of guilt that made him feel sick. In spite of the modifications Dr. Kiloh had made to make him more pacifistic, it still was often a struggle for him to keep his temper in check. No matter how many different ways Trysta had found to push his buttons, he had _never_ before raised a hand with the intent of hurting her. The fact that he had just done so out of anger only worsened his feelings.

"I...I'm sorry, Trys," he said slowly, keeping his gaze averted. "I'm just so worried about Rei. You know how she is..."

"Yeah, I know," she replied, her voice sounding slightly distorted from her injuries. "And I'm worried about her, too. This place is too large and dangerous for someone to wander around in by themselves, regardless of who they are. But going at each other over who's to blame isn't going to help us find her any faster."

"You're right, Trys," Nami replied before Dax could speak. "Why don't we look for a working terminal and see if we can't find out more about what's going on in this place? Maybe it'll give us some clues about where to look for Rei, and maybe we can find others who can help us along the way."

Zero felt himself smile a bit at Nami's exuberance, amused at how naïve it made her sound at that moment. "You seem a bit _too_ optimistic there," he said. "But I guess we could use the optimism right about now. So, let's get moving."

The others nodded in reply before beginning to leave the room through the nearby door. Behind him, he could hear Trysta walk the short distance to retrieve her fallen visor. As her footsteps approached behind him, Zero waited for her to catch up. "I was glad to see you show some restraint towards Dax," he said as he fell into step beside her. "After all, he's under a lot of stress right now."

"Tell me about it," she replied flatly, still rubbing the painful area on her cheek where Dax had hit her. "I'm just glad he didn't hit me at full power, otherwise I'd be picking bits of my teeth off the floor. But he's worried about Rei, as am I."

"If that really is the case, I hope you take these sort of risks into consideration before you insist on things being done your way. If you'd thought about the dangers in the first place, then no one would have to worry about Rei at all..."

He would have continued, but the glare he was certain Trysta gave him from behind her visor -which she had returned to its place over her eyes- caused him to pause his thoughts. She then quickened her steps so she walked ahead of him slightly, refusing to give him so much as an insult or snide comment.

_Hm. _He thought to himself, shaking his head a bit. _Guess that'll teach me to offer any more friendly advice to her._

* * *

Rubbing her tongue against the wounds on her lip and inside her mouth, Trysta noted they were becoming progressively less tender. She could still taste the dried blood that clung to them, and one tiny nick that she had probed too zealously had already reopened and begun bleeding again. Mentally cursing her stupidity, she forced herself to ignore them, sure they would heal over in no time.

It hadn't surprised her that those wounds had bled as profusely as they did. For as long as she could remember, Trysta recalled herself to be a rather heavy bleeder whenever she was injured. Whether it was the severe, dark bruises she received during training, or the cuts and scrapes she managed to get from her typical day-to-day activities, they always seemed to bleed a bit more heavily than identical wounds that were seen on acquaintances. No, what bothered her was her own slow response to Dax's attack. She cursed letting her guard down, but Rei's absence had brought her up short. She had been so sure that Dax had found her -or that she had found her way to him- that it never crossed her mind that her friend could still be missing. Her error had proven a costly one, as well as a painful one.

She didn't blame Dax for being angry. Ever since Rei and Nami had arrived at Obsidian so many years earlier, he had taken it upon himself to be their protector and big-brother figure. She always thought he took those duties a bit _too_ seriously, but he would never agree with that assessment whenever she had previously brought it up. Figuring it was part of his being a retired combat Reploid, she eventually let the matter drop.

Zero, on the other hand, she could not forgive so lightly. He could damn well see she was still smarting from the hits she had taken, she knew he was smart enough in that regard. What she had hoped was that he would have had the sense to keep his mouth shut; instead, he addressed her with the surface attempt of giving "advice", which she took as being more of an attempt at gloating at her misfortune.

_Oh, damn this all to hell!_ She shouted mentally. Part of her wished that their mission together was over, and that no further missions were necessary. That part of her hoped then to have some semblance of peace, as those damned Hunters would go back to the lab they were brought from, and would leave her to her own devices. But then, she remembered Nami's happiness when she was around Axl, and X gradually drawing Rei out of her shell, and she felt a bit of shame for wishing they were gone. They had done a lot of good since their arrival at Obsidian. Even Zero, for all his stubbornness and lack of deference to her, had brought some good with him. He had given her the best challenge she'd ever faced, and she now had a new goal to strive for, among other things.

She rolled her eyes at her wandering thoughts, glad she had her visor in place to hide the gesture. While its casing had a few new cracks from its uncouth treatment, it still functioned normally. And that small normalcy was comforting to her in a place where things were anything but.

* * *

"You know, you were sitting there when I left an hour ago to analyze that data you asked for." Footsteps approached behind her, followed by the sound of someone sitting in the chair to her left. "Not only were you sitting in that exact same spot when I left, but you were still muttering to yourself and glaring at the screen as though you could reach through it and strangle someone."

She resisted the urge to slap him, knowing his armor would only leave her with severe bruises on her hand. "Very funny," she retorted. "For the record, I have _not_ been simply sitting here for an hour. I did other things as well."

"Like what? Filing your nails?" He would have added more, but the acidic glare he received in return shut him up.

"You know damn well that I've been busy! After all, you aren't the only one who runs things from this room, remember?" She stood up, pacing the room slowly. "I just can't believe that that brat evaded us so easily. We were so close to getting her, and she slipped out from right under our noses. How the hell do we explain _that_?"

"Simple. We may have plants."

She spun around to face him, a lock of hair falling to obscure her vision. "What?" she asked sharply, brushing the errant lock back into place. "Are you saying that there are spies in _my_ base?"

"No," he replied evenly. "I'm saying we might have spies in the base the Master entrusted us to maintain and operate. Last time I checked, you weren't given sole ownership of this place, and I have as much interest in it as you do."

"Oh, will you either tell me what you found out or just shut up already?" She rolled her eyes as she returned to her seat. "I'm getting a migraine from all your pointless complaining."

It was on the tip of his tongue to remind her that she was a far bigger complainer than he could ever hope to be, but he decided against it. It wouldn't do any good to poke her further, and it might end with him missing a number of vital parts. He decided to instead do as she asked and tell her his findings, lest she find creative ways of separating his extremities from his torso.

"Okay sis, so I'm sure you know how all of our guard units are the same RZ Guard models, right?" she nodded without speaking, letting him continue. "Well, I ran a check on all their ID signals, to see where their origin points were."

"And...?"

"And ninety-nine point nine percent of those units had matching ID signals, which showed they came from the same location. They were all made in the same facility, shipped in the same shipment, and arrived here at the same time."

She rested her elbow on the table, propping her chin in her hand. "That's all well and fascinating, but what does it have to do with out little lost pet?" she asked.

"That's where that remaining percentage comes in." He tapped a few keys on the console keyboard in front of him, which brought up a sequence consisting of several individual rows of numbers. "These are a sampling of twenty ID signals from our RZ units. Notice anything interesting about any of them?"

She nodded, a nasty scowl crossing her face. "I do. And I don't like it."

He shook his head. "Neither do I. I wish I'd caught this sooner. If we really do have altered RZ units roaming the base, it doesn't bode well for our task."

Her smile returned, as cold and brittle as it ever was. "As always, allow me to handle that, my dear brother," she replied. "I know the perfect way to exterminate rats."

"You always do have a plan, sis," he replied, his face not sharing her smile. "And I think my knowledge of that fact frightens me slightly."


End file.
